


Soul Searching

by InsideTH3fire23



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: BAMF Kol Mikaelson, F/M, Love Confessions, Multi, Possessive Klaus Mikaelson, Protective Elijah Mikaelson, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:21:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26004847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsideTH3fire23/pseuds/InsideTH3fire23
Summary: Nothing was making sense to Olivia, especially not the part where five original vampires were claiming she was their soulmate.
Relationships: Elijah Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s), Finn Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s), Klaus Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s), Kol Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s), Rebekah Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 154





	1. Chapter 1

The roses smell sweet, the wild flowers smell bitter. The stars shine bright. 

Olivia had always marveled at how her mother crafted such a place, how she can blend scents and textures- a master with her brush, stippling and smoothing. 

Hades has all but wedded his realm to Persephone, asphodel and lilies spread over almost every wall of his stone.

A throne beside her fathers made in delicate silver crystal flowers etched carefully in it. Hephaestus, she thinks, would be jealous of Hades' handiwork; Hera, perhaps, too, who never had a chair less than three feet below her husband’s. 

Approaching her parents, they are gazing at one another with a type of intimacy that makes Olivia feel like an intruder through she knows her parents have never been able to disguise their love and her presence is never unwelcome. 

"Hello," she says, her voice echoing in the throne room. 

Olivia's feet unconsciously take her until she stands between the two thrones, her mother smiling up at her indulgently and her father (who rarely smiles himself) looking at her with warmth. 

"Darling, has something happened?" Her mother smells like spring, sun in her golden brown skin, wind in the dark ruby of her hair, and her eyes a cold emerald. 

Her mother is a burst of color and her father a movie made in black and white.

"No," Olivia said quietly. "I just don't understand why I have to leave."

Her father makes a quiet sound, though his face doesn't change. 

"You know why," he says simply. 

She wants to argue back but she rarely does. Her parents have always been truthful with her and always consider Olivia's feeling with every decision they make. 

They love her. 

She knows this. 

She is both of them after all. 

Like the underworld itself, Olivia is the purest combination of Hades and Persephone.

"Your other siblings were excited to see the upper world," Persephone idly points out, she stands and they are eye to eye as Persephone takes some of Olivia's dark curls and begins combing through it with graceful fingers. She hums and touches the flowers weaved through Olivia's braid making them more vibrant in the darkness of her hair. 

"But-"

"You're young," Hades adds standing. He towers over his wife and daughter, his shadows wrapping over them like a protective cape. "We do not want to contain you, Olivia."

Looking into the oil slick darkness of her father's eyes, so still with depths Olivia couldn't imagine, she pouted. 

"As you wish, father and mother."

Persephone seeing her daughter's unease, grabbed hold of her left hand. She didn't speak as she lead the young girl to the garden with her. 

Together they dug into the dirt and in silence began letting themselves flow into the darkness. It was always an exhilarating process and left Olivia soothed afterwards. 

"You have so much of your father in you," the mistress of death had a softness in her eyes. One that was always there when thinking of Hades. 

"Father thinks I am more like you," Olivia said quietly. 

He had never said so out loud but her father rarely used words to say anything, it was spoken in the way he crafted her gold crown, twined with delicate petals and black jewels. Hades spent months crafting the delicate thing, refusing to stop until he felt it perfectly spoke of his daughters nature. 

As he did for all of his sons and daughters. 

Persephone looked at her thoughtfully. "Perhaps that is why you surprise us."

Later when her parents walk her towards the exit, both of them hug her tightly. 

Olivia can feel the pulsing energy radiating off the doorway and she swallows down her nervousness. 

"How do I know which earth to step upon?" There weren't so much as multiple earths as there were multiple planes of existence. Even though one was already drawing her towards it, something clutching at that glowing thing inside of her. 

Hades looks at her fully. "You know the answer to that." He is patient but always watching. 

And then, all the was left to do, was step forward. 

* * *

One lesson her father had taught her is God's transform in different worlds. 

They aren't stripped of their abilities, but they are remade to best fit into their surroundings. Olivia feels one of those changes when her heart begins to beat. 

The air is less oppressive here. 

Light and soft and smells so powerfully of her mother it makes Olivia smile. 

The grass beneath her feet tickles and everything is sunny and bright, her eyes burn for a second but they soon adjust. It is different from the underworld, but certainly not ugly. 

Or at least, not the forest with all it's precious animals. 

"Are you lost?"

She blinks at the man before her. He doesn't feel like a normal human, no something drifts off of him. Something dark, something that's just familiar enough to make Olivia feel comfortable. 

"Not quite," Olivia murmurs in response. 

Elijah's heart softened, for even the hardest of hearts had to when they saw the sweet prettiness of the girl before him. 

She wore a white flowing thing that had a slit on either side exposing the smoothness of her long legs, and gold sandals wrapped delicately around her ankles and feet. A gold headband with black flowers adorning her dark curls, she looked unreal, and yet solidified. 

"My name is Elijah Mikaelson," he introduced as his soul burned within. 

She smiled and suddenly Elijah wanted to taste her lips. "Olivia."

"Just Olivia?" Elijah moved closer. 

"Just Olivia," the girl confirmed. 

"You're a witch."

Olivia tilted her head, it wasn't an unprecedented explanation, seeing as Olivia wasn't a powerful Goddess and she did often enjoy Hekate's lessons. Would the other goddess feel odd if Olivia claimed herself as a follower of her? The Goddess of magic would probably be amused. 

"I have used magic before," Olivia likes the dark of Elijah's eyes. A warm brown, it reminds her of the soil in the underworld. "Why are you here Elijah?"

He stares at her and his eyes seem to burn with a frenzy, she's seen her father look at her mother like this, but seeing it aimed at Olivia herself makes her blush. 

"This may sound," he pauses, hesitance dripping off his words. "Unbelievable. But you, Olivia, are my soulmate."

She blinks once and then twice and then reaches for the man before her. It is not a physical thing, she tries to see if she can find their- ah, and the red string attaching them is thick and powerfully consuming. 

He steps forward. "I felt you instantly. It's like you appeared from nowhere and I couldn't help but be-"

"Mistaken." It's a low drawl of words. "She's mine." The second man winks in her direction. "Isn't that right, darling?"

"I-"

"You're imbeciles," a gorgeous blonde woman says, teasing out from between two trees. Her heels leave holes in the dirt beneath her and there is a ruthlessness behind her doll like appearance.

And then those pretty blue eyes of her focus on Olivia's own. 

"I expected such a thing from Elijah and Kol," a blonde man says. "But not from you Rebekah." 

"Silence Niklaus," someone says quietly in the air before appearing behind Olivia. 

The four men and one women circle around Olivia and she thinly wonders if this is a normal occurrence. 

If all Gods appear on earth and feel attachments like this. Strong polarized magnets, nebulous and coveted. 

"I don't think I understand," Olivia murmurs quietly. 

"This may not be the place to explain it," the blonde woman, called Rebekah, says. Her eyes darting back and forth between Olivia and the ground. 

"Take me somewhere that would be a good place to explain then."

Rebekah's brow darts upwards, "Are you always so demanding?"

"I think I'm entitled to some answers," Olivia pushes back. It's not sharp, but something must impress Rebekah because her eyes rove mercilessly over Olivia. 

The blonde man grasps either side of her waist. 

She flinches immediately.

No one ever touches her. 

The man's expression shifts, and his grip tighten minutely. 

"Hold on tightly, love," he warns and then they are gone. 

She's clutching onto him, digging into his skin because his speed feels akin to Hermes himself. Dizzying in it's existence. 

The place they take her to is not unlike the great halls and royal courts in which Zeus reigns. Sprawling in gold and wealth, it's beautiful but Olivia feels no comfort in it's beauty. It is not as great as her home below, she can't pick out anything besides material objects set to attract. No personal touch, no loving hands.

She realizes after a moment that the men and the woman were watching her look over the house, picking apart her silence. 

Searching for fear. 

Whatever these people are, she isn't afraid of it.

She's used to darkness. 

"What are you?" She asks, though whatever they are- it's predatory. She feels it, the sharpness, the coldness. She just isn't sure how it applies. 

"You mean you don't know?"

Olivia shakes her head. 

"We are the Originals," the man with dark playful eyes says. "And fate seems to find amusement in tying all of us to you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Olivia finds herself confused

_Originals._

Olivia rolls the word around her head, her brow furrowed.

She begins with what she knows. 

1\. There is no way for a normal human to feel like the underworld. 

2\. Whatever they are- the are fast. 

3\. When it comes to commonalities between them all, they all wear a ring with the same crest. 

"You needn't be on edge, darling" the second man who appeared consoled, moving closer. The others bustle around, gathering crystal glasses and some sort of liquid similar to the gold ambrosia in her father's realm. 

Olivia looks; meets his gaze steadily. "I'm supposed to rely on people I don't know not to hurt me?" 

The man face dropped to stone and steel and other harsh, lovely things. " _Hurt you_?" Casual as everything, he slid closer. "No one in this room is capable of hurting you."

"Sounds unrealistic," Olivia murmurs felinely. "Whatever an original is-" she moves her eyes over them. "It's a predator."

The amusement is blatant in his eyes. "Are you always so hostile, darling?"

"Only when I need to be."

"Ah, so when you get defensive, you _bite_." His mouth quirks into a killer's smile, the smirk is congratulatory, impressed, willing. Far too many teeth and not enough innocence.

"You're the one with the teeth."

The man blinks. His fingers curl at his side, before he lifts his hand, moving to touch Olivia's face and make their eyes meet.

Olivia's hand snaps out, wrapping tight around his wrist. She knows she's being watched; everyone has gone silent, Elijah is stiff. She could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

But the man before her looks more amused than anything else.

"Forgive me," Kol watched the way the dim light reflected off her eyes, glimmering in a way a lion's does, the way she blinked slowly. "But I'd appreciate a name first and a proper introduction."

He uses his other hand to take hers off his wrist, gentle cradles it, and presses a kiss to her knuckles. "Kol Mikaelson at your service."

"Can you provide me with some answers then, since you've taken it upon yourself to be so-" Olivia pauses, "-gracious."

He's at his most emotive yet, a new darkness and warmth in his eyes. "Ask away, darling."

"What is an original?"

The sound of wind and then the blonde man was right there. Standing right in front of her so suddenly it made her jump. She made a scared noise that she didn't know resided inside of her, and almost knocked into the table. 

Quiet amusement touched the corners of his mouth.

His blue eyes were inscrutably fixed on her- the only true indication of a threat. As if he could see straight through to the back of her skull.

"Vampires love," the man, original vampire, said. 

The word itself evokes no recognition. "I'm still not sure-"

This seems to surprise them all.

It draws more acute attention from every single one of them. The kind that makes her shudder. 

Elijah is the one who speaks first. "Vampires are beings who find sustenance in blood, specifically-"

She snaps her fingers excitedly. "You mean you are **V _rykolaskas_**." She walked eight short steps with an easy stride, almost lazy with the sort of calm she didn't feel. "You are the first, then?"

"Yes," the blonde man said, "Vrykolaskas," he repeats. "Except I am something more as well."

Olivia bites her lip and tries not to be overwhelmed with the information and how it all fits together. Forcing back her trepidation she tried again, "And what makes you different?"

"I'm the hybrid, love," he smirks, and dimples are visible in his cheeks. "Part wolf as well."

And then his eyes turn gold, the same color of the hell hounds her father trains and commands. 

She makes a helpless, frustrated gesture, and then blurted out, "Okay." The bodies of the men and one women in front of her are oddly deceptive things. So much power contained in shells, maybe just enough like her. Truthfully, she isn't sure why fate tied her life to there's or what it all means. 

All she knows is she's frustrated. Usually, Olivia would drag herself to her father's library and spend days puzzling over information before she made a solid opinion about something. 

That seems so improbable now.

"So none of you are technically alive?"

This is important. Very important. The difference between whether or not any of them could withstand the underworld, maybe even Olivia herself. 

"Technically undead," Kol quips. 

"That's....that's the same thing."

"It's a little more nuanced than that," Elijah says with a wave of his hand. 

Olivia huffs a quiet laugh that sounds more than a little hysterical. 

"I have a question for you," the soft fluid voice of the one named Rebekah said, interrupting Olivia's breakdown. "Where exactly did you come from?"

Olivia tilts her head. 

"The underworld."

There's a burst of laughter but that dies away when they see Olivia's face hadn't changed. 

"Well you can't be serious," the blonde girl insisted. 

"Of course I am," Olivia replied patiently. "My father and mother insisted I see the upper world."

The blonde man comes closer, a strange smile quirking up his lips, the potential of something cruel. "Enough of these games."

"I'm not playing any-"

The lions, the vipers, moved before Olivia could finish. Suddenly so close she felt for the first time...threatened. She stumbled back, right into the arms of Elijah. 

"Give us the truth," The blonde man demanded, unkindly. 

"That is the truth," the young goddess snapped back. "And I can prove it."

The one named Kol began to laugh. "Of course our mate is delusional-"

The words stopped abruptly when Olivia pulled a divine knife hidden in the layers of her skirt and drew it across her hand. 

Gold blood bubbled up. 

There are a series of events that happen the second the scent of her blood is recognized. 

With a savage grin, Kol let out an inhuman roar of bloodlust hurdling towards the young goddess with ferocity. A flash of fangs, a dark gleam in his eyes, the canines in his mouth sharpening to a fine line.

Kol was so close. He could see clearly the vein thumping beneath her skin, savory and thick. He was so close.

His trance was broken by the feel of wall crushing behind his back. Elijah's hands grip his throat with a strength he hadn't seen from his brother in a while. Kol could see the hunger, the same hunger as him, reflected in Elijah's eyes.

"Release me," Kol hisses in a voice unlike his own. He pushes back against Elijah. And even Elijah with all his control allowed his face to change, for his fangs to begin to lengthen. 

Elijah's eyes grew cold and thorny. "Contain yourself."

Rebekah released a shaky breath, her long thin fingers clenching, nails digging into her palms. Her incisors dug into her bottom lip causing her own bitter blood to flood her mouth. 

Even Finn moved forward, his dark eyes brimming with thirst, while Klaus let's out a low growl. 

Olivia does the only thing she thinks she can do. 

She runs. 

She doesn't make it very far, strong arms grip her waist and pulls her back inside the mansion. Olivia kicks and claws but it seems useless and overwhelming strength was never one of the goddess's gifts. 

"I'm sorry," the blonde man growls brutally in her ear. "The wound is healed now. We are fine."

"Let me go," she shrieks, and tries to aim a kick at his shin. 

"Love, we won't hurt you- fuck," the hybrid curses when her kick connects. "We aren't trying to hurt you!"

"You're lying," she growls and then allows the earth to fuel her. The ground begins to shake with the force of the young goddess's anger and fear. 

"Niklaus let her go!" Rebekah yells, being thrown to the ground viciously. "She'll destroy the entire town! Let her go we can find her again."

And when his grip loosens enough to break through, Olivia is gone, heading back to the forest to find the gates to her home. 

* * *

Standing back in the forest where she first arrived, Olivia hesitates. 

She thinks of her mother, decked out in cold jewels. The keeper of furies, goddess of curses, persecutor of those who have committed impiety, murder, and betrayal. The Goddess who knew exactly what she was was doing when she ate exactly six seeds, so that her time would be evenly spent above and below. 

A reckoning. 

Then her father. Hades, the purveyor of death, the overlord. It is Hades who accepts his dark desires and indulges in them, patient and unafraid of anything. 

What would they think of the daughter who couldn't even last a day up above?

That alone draws Olivia up short.

She doesn't know how long she stands there staring at the ground, wanting more than anything to be pulled beneath the earth and yet not wanting to fail her parents. 

"Hello."

She flinches and squeezes her eyes shut. 

"I'm sorry," the man begins. He heaves a large sigh before sitting on the ground. "After you left I did some research. I couldn't find any Goddesses named Olivia."

Glaring at him fiercely Olivia snaps," Of course not."

He stares at her, but doesn't make a move to get up or come any closer. 

"I never properly introduced myself," he places his hand over his chest. "My name is Finn Mikaelson. I am the eldest of all of my siblings." There is a new look on his face...it's different to the emptiness from before. Sort of warmer. Almost friendly. Like a tiger might give it's keeper before dinner time. It's alluring but also wants to make her back away. Fast.

"I would say nice to meet you," Olivia coldly rebuffs. "But that would be a lie."

"Cleary," Finn replied unaffected. "Will you tell me who you are?"

"We're not doing this."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk about this."

"That doesn't change the fact I want to hear about it."

She stomps her foot, giving Finn no more than a passing glance, but just enough to acknowledge him and make his heart do these weird shard injured jumps that make him wince in silent, unbearable pain. Jesus fucking Christ, she was so fucking cute and she was so pretty, deadly dark curls and all soft and sweet. "My father is Hades and my mother is Persephone."

Finn takes a moment to allow those words to settle. 

And then he looks at Olivia again. 

Her glowing brown skin, her long dark curls, her eyes a deep metallic gold. Through her, he can see Persephone and Hades themselves. 

"You're...."

"What?" Olivia says when the silence drags on too long. 

"You're staggering."

The words are blown from him with a deep sincerity that leaves Olivia with wide eyes. It is not the pointless niceties other Gods have bestowed upon her, or the false warmth the shades in the underworld try to provide. It is simply the truth. 

He stares at her, fully and completely. "You have never been on earth before, have you?"

Olivia wonders if everything she ever was has been ripped open for this man to view. 

It makes her back away. 

"It's okay," he immediately tries to console. "I- I was locked away in a dark place for a very long time. This world is new to me." He looks her up and down. "And from what I can tell you are alone."

"I am a Goddess."

"A young one," Finn says quietly. "Who knows nothing of this world and is tied to abominations."

His attention gets caught on the curve of her cheek, on the freckles that lie there. 

"Abominations?" She repeats. "I do not think you are abominations. I think you are vrykolaskas."

"There is little difference between the two."

The resplendent goddess, with gold adorning her wrist and ears as if born to it, frowns. "Vrykolaskas exists because they are meant to." She stares at the one called Finn, the one who finds the world as new and as terrifying as she does and offers her hand. "You and your siblings frightened me but I know now that was merely instinct."

Finn takes her hand and stands. 

The touch is like a slow drip of paint that covers the Mona Lisa, then finally the entire bucket splattered on top.

"You're willing to come back with me?"

She stares at the ground mournfully. 

"I have nowhere else to go."

That is not the enthusiastic reaction he wanted, but Finn would take anything he could get. 

* * *

Her return is felt when the tension lying on all the Mikaelson's immediately drops at the sight of her. 

And Olivia hugs herself when she takes in all the destruction she caused. "I destroyed your home."

"We," Elijah pauses, considering his words. "We weren't very welcoming."

Olivia huffs a very weak laugh, more air than sound. "You were going to kill me."

"No," Niklaus shook his head, eyes so earnest that Olivia had to blink a moment to get her gaze to focus. "No. That was never anyone's intention, Olivia. Never that."

"I'm not a juice box," Olivia snapped. "You can't just-"

"You have no idea what you smell like," Kol countered. "You're a temptation, darling. An addiction." And Kol is staring at her like he's been presented with the rarest creature on earth- and it's at his complete mercy. That would be jarring, instead she's too fascinated by the obscenely large pupils gazing at her. 

They all stare at her as if expecting her to do something spectacular and Olivia doesn't know what to do with that burden. 

Kol dryly chuckles. "We insulted a goddess and I will do whatever I need to earn your forgiveness."

"It was mostly you," Rebekah adds unhelpfully. 

"I didn't see you-"

"Enough children," the hybrid comments, throwing his hand out carefully. "All that matters is she is back." A certain possessiveness brews in the blue of his eyes, and it should make Olivia uncomfortable, yet it soothes her. 

"Yes," Elijah agrees. "Let us prepare a proper welcome fit for a goddess and beyond because you," his eyes burrow into her. "You are more than just that to us."


	3. Chapter 3

Olivia escapes to the garden as soon as the collective attention of the Mikaelsons is drawn elsewhere, it is...different from the gardens she is used to. Neatly trimmed and obsessively perfect. 

_I can do better,_ Olivia thinks looking out at the greenery- the air could smell of late summer bloom and flowers and fruit would never cease to stop growing. 

She drops to her knees and digs her hands into the earth, she can feel the hum of power there, the vitality. It rushes to her fingers and starts moving. It is easy, inherent, it requires no skill, just a breath of air from the goddess. The pure disorganized chaos of nature is ripe beneath her fingers, a mess of color and beauty. 

And best of all, a flower- the Asphodel, her mother's emblem, blooms and in the curves of it's growth a black stone. 

A gift from her mother and father. 

The sight of it causes a sting of tears to Olivia's eyes, and she carefully reaches over to caress it, taking the stone in the palm of her hand. 

"Who are you?" The voice isn't directly hostile, just sterile. Cold. 

Standing up abruptly, Olivia takes in the woman before her. Long blonde hair and hard icy eyes, her lips drawn in a tight line. 

"My name is Olivia."

The woman, the witch, looks her up and down, her eyes pausing on the dirt on her dress and the palms of her hands, something twisted on the witch's face as she looked at Olivia's dark hair against her brown skin. The young goddess could have confused it for admiration if her eyes weren't so sharp, and her lips were pursed as if waiting for a snarl to take over her features

"You...did this?"

"Well, yes-"

"And who invited you to spread your magic around _my_ home?"

The young goddess freezes, suddenly very unsure of herself. 

"I hadn't meant to cause insult," Olivia says kindly. 

A cruel thing flickers in the women's eyes. "Insult?" the witch's eyes hold nothing but pure disdain as they drip over her body as if it is vulgar. As if she is vulgar. "Which ever one of my sons invited you to warm their bed, I'm sure they are done with you-"

"You redecorated," his voice breaks through the woman's words, smooth as silk.

When the young goddess looks over at him he is rubbing a hollyhock with his finger lightly, as if he cannot believe it exists, his face full of awe. 

His eyes jump over the various trees and grasses that overwhelm the garden. 

"Niklaus," the woman says sharply. "What is the meaning of this?" Her voice is incessant, and even so Niklaus doesn't so much as look in her direction. 

He is too busy staring at Olivia. 

The mere complexity of the garden, the artistry, a poetry to the lines of nature. 

And at it's center. 

The young goddess. 

The original hybrid wanted nothing more to paint her as she was. A smudge of dirt on the curve of the apple of her cheek, the soft plush of red on her lips, the way the grass brushed against her toes. Olivia wasn't just pretty, she caressed the eye. 

"It was supposed to be a gift," Olivia whispers quietly. "I truly didn't mean to insult anyone."

"You haven't," Niklaus says in response. Turning towards the woman he eyes her carefully. "Mother," he gestures a hand towards Olivia. "This is my intended."

There's a slice of silence. Sharp and calculating. 

"Your intended," she repeats. Then she forces a smile. "It seems I was wrongly presumptuous of you. I should apologize."

"So then apologize," Niklaus says it with no emotion in his voice, and does not react when his mother winces. 

They stare at one another silently, a quiet battle of wills. 

Her eyes are glassy with anger when they come to Olivia again. "I'm sorry for insulting you and your _trespass_ on the Mikaelson home."

"It is not a trespass," Niklaus says with hardly concealed anger. "Olivia has free reign here. Whatever I have, I shall share. It is hers to do with as she likes."

He moves suddenly, coming to her side and putting a hand on the small of her back. 

The touch sends a tiny fire across her skin and Olivia leans further back into him. She could wrap herself in him, hide within his strength.Without even being aware of it, a yellow tulip begins to sprout and grow in her hands. 

She presses the flower once completely in bloom against Niklaus's chest and the original hybrid blinks at it. 

Any anger directed towards his mother melts away when he looks at her. 

"You're giving me a flower?" He sounds awed and there's a pure amusement within the confines of his eyes. As if he just can't believe someone would give him a flower. 

"Yes," she says shyly. 

That one word, said so sweetly, burned down Niklaus's spine.

Niklaus considers her and the flower, gingerly he takes the flower as if it is the most precious of jewels.

That makes Esther tense. 

Her son is possessive of this...girl, Esther can see it in the way he holds that flower, unwilling to part. She will have to be careful in how she unwinds his fingers. 

"You never enjoyed sharing your space before," Esther prods. 

"Things change," Niklaus replies airily, his gaze not lifting from the yellow tulip in his hands. 

Before Esther can say any more the rest of her children come outside carrying words of awe on their tongues. 

"Did you do this?" Rebekah asks, she doesn't hesitate to brush past her mother and head directly towards Olivia. Stopping just in front of her. 

"Yes," Olivia says looking up at the taller girl, "Do you like it?"

"It's stunning," a dimpled smile is thrown her way and the blue of her eyes glow warm. 

Ducking her head, Olivia begins knitting together a flower, a blue hyacinth, and hesitantly after the flower is formed, reaches over and tucks it behind Rebekah's left ear. 

The action sends a sharp pang of heat towards Rebekah's heart. 

Olivia looks so painfully sweet and sincere, blushing as she says, "You're really pretty and I think flowers are pretty and so I wanted to give you one."

Rebekah feels...it's a flower, just a flower. Plenty of men have given her flowers. 

It shouldn't make her heart twist so desperately. 

"I-" Rebekah swallows. "Thank you, Olivia."

"Very kind of you," Esther says sharply. Her voice holds a degree of judgement that makes all the Mikaelson's stand slightly taller, readying themselves. 

"Our intended is so," Elijah begins, his eyes are his father’s, Esther realizes with cold horror; greedy and demanding and all-consuming. His mouth is drawn into a battle line that makes Esther all the more willing to dig in her heels. "Perfect, isn't she mother?"

"Our? I didn't realize she was shared amongst all of you."

"Is that a problem?" Kol pokes bluntly. His eyes dark with satisfaction. 

Esther stays quiet for a drawn moment. "Not at all," she let's her eyes drop over every one of her children. "I am going to retire," she gestures towards Finn. "Escort me to my rooms."

Finn the ever present eldest son, does as Esther expects. 

* * *

"I get the odd feeling that mother dearest doesn't approve," Kol's dark eyes bubbling with crazed amusement. "Whatever shall we do?" 

Elijah, standing beside Kol, wears a more somber expression, "I don't see how she could find fault with you," his eyes jump to hers and under that gaze Olivia felt like treasure. Like she was more than worthy of adoration.

"I have plenty of faults," Olivia said openly. "Give it time, you'll find them."

Elijah chuckles in response, a sound that Olivia feels a little desperate to hear again. 

In her hands she begins weaving together more flowers. 

A daffodil for Elijah. 

A magenta zinna for Kol. 

A forsythia for Finn. 

They form a small bundle in her hands. 

She takes her time handing them out under the indulgent eyes of the Originals. 

Kol takes the hand that holds his flower in his. "Do you often hand out flowers?" and carefully he eases the zinna out of her grip, lifting her hand he presses a solid kiss to the inside of her palm. 

"No," Olivia says thoughtfully. "I've never had anyone to give them to."

Elijah let's out a soft sigh, smiling at the girl when she comes before him. _Adorable_ , he thinks, _truly adorable_. 

He takes the flower and takes in the expressions on his siblings faces. 

Niklaus seems unable to lift his eyes away from the flower itself, his thumb gliding down the side of a petal with a gentleness that seemed abstract when considering his nature. 

Rebekah kept playing with the ends of her hair, and reaching up every few seconds to make sure the flower was still tucked behind her ear. A gentle smile curves her lips, one that reminds Elijah of when they were children and Rebekah would spend her days running through the fields. 

Even Kol, in all his unpredictability, wears an expression of pure fondness. He keeps the flower in his hand, and though his attention doesn't stay from Olivia, he doesn't disregard the flower either. 

Elijah wonder what expression plays on his face. 

What Olivia can see within him. 

"The feast to celebrate your arrival is ready for you, darling."

Olivia's eyes go wide. "A feast?" Awe touches the corners of her lips. "I've never eaten before, but my mother always told me the food from up above was always the best part of this world."

"You've never eaten before?" Rebekah questions incredulously. 

Olivia simply shakes her head. "The food that grows in the underworld keeps one forever attached to the underworld. My mother and father insisted I have the option to leave."

She can see the questions and curiosities building in the eyes of the originals. Though they all hold them in as they usher her inside. The stop to allow her to wash the dirt from her hands, but don't seem to care for the dirt everywhere else. 

The food arrives almost the second Olivia steps into the dining room.

If Olivia's presence as a whole had tested the Mikaelson's restraint, it's nothing compared to watching her eat. 

Olivia is a woman starved for company _and_ for a well-cooked and nourishing meal. 

Her table manners are appalling, and the originals can only imagine what she’d do with food that wasn’t primarily hands-on. Her enthusiasm, however, makes them all overlook that (if only for a moment). 

Olivia's delight is palpable, taking the warmth and tenderness of the bread and chewing it so thoroughly the flour must have melted away on her tongue. 

She stripped grapes from their vines and sucks away the juice of the fruit from her skin, chews the last of her bread heartily, and is sinfully vocal in her enjoyment of all the textures and flavors of their shared meal. 

Elijah is the one who ends up holding his glass of wine beneath her chin and coaxing the younger woman into breathing in the sparkling liquid. The fragrance is sharp and mellow all at once.

And for Elijah, it's that glass of wine that did him in. 

He was done for the second Olivia took his glass of wine, took a sip, and then handed it back to him only to sneakily reach for it and steals sips throughout the dinner. 

It's simple, and small, but it changes something. 

The wine however does have it's affect. Olivia's the type to get flushed after a half glass of wine and she's red-cheeked and dreamy eyed by the time the dinner is finished and they have all moved on to the den. 

* * *

"Tell me of her," Esther says once the spell is placed on the door. "Is she hale and happy in the arms of my sons and daughter."

“Very.” A defensive, instant answer; oh yes, even Finn is scrambling for a fight. The girl is held tensely indeed, and she must unwind his fingers without snapping them so soon. 

"And do you understand that her presence cannot change anything?"

"Mother-"

"Finn."

Silence. 

Finn nods once, and then twice and then takes his leave. 

When he finds his way to his room, the flower- the forsythia on the center of his bed is all he can see. 


	4. Chapter 4

Gods don't sleep, that doesn't mean to say they can't.

Her sister, Melinoe, a frightful underworld goddess, warned her to be wary of sleep. 

Even still, Olivia closed her eyes and let her mind fall down, reaching for her sister. Melinoe did not reach back, she simply stood still for Olivia to make the trip to her. 

With her freezing snow and brisk air, Melinoe stands. 

"Sister," Melinoe says with her empty eyes. They're Hades' eyes, cold and slick. When Olivia is close enough to reach, Melinoe combs her fingers through her curls, lets the madness trapped beneath her darkness seep inside. "Why do you come to me?"

There's a sharpness to her cheekbones that Olivia doesn't remember, and she's not smiling but she isn't frowning either. 

"I think the fates are playing a game with me."

Melinoe looks at Olivia like she knows. Now she smiles. "Do you not like the game you are trapped in?"

"...you are mocking me."

"I am not."

Melinoe gnaws thoughtfully on her thumbnail, still crouched, still staring, still perfectly herself despite all the world's turning. They stare at each other in the half-light, and with a shiver Olivia realizes that holding her gaze for so long even now makes her feel mad.

"You aren't meant to understand everything, Olivia."

Olivia intends to argue. Truly, she does. But she gets distracted by ice crystals blooming delicately beneath Melinoe's fingertips. The fractals are mesmerizing -- they look like the stars of frost that crackle across car windshields, when the temperature and humidity are just right. They're beautiful. Perhaps dangerous. 

"I miss home."

"You aren't like me or father," Melinoe says soothingly. "You belong above."

"Death lives inside of me."

"Then doesn't it make sense that you would be tethered to it in the form of your mates?"

Olivia immediately feels reassured. 

Melinoe hugs her one last time and then shoves her away. On an impulse, Olivia turns around, half expecting (perhaps even hoping) to see the angular face and fathomless eyes staring back at her- but the underworld has already faded from view and she is back in the room the Mikaelson's gave her. 

The sun is out and Olivia feels entirely too hot now that she's away from Melinoe's coldness. 

Rebekah stands in the doorway watching Olivia. The young goddess as if sensing Rebekah, aims a fleeting smile in the blonde's direction.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," Olivia returns, slipping off the bed. One strap of the night gown Rebekah had given her falling off her shoulder. 

"We are going shopping." It's not a question, nor a demand. Simply a statement. 

Olivia just smiles wider, soft and sweet and poison-in honey gold, her curls plastered to her forehead like she's been out in the sun all day. 

"Okay," the girl says just as happily. 

Rebekah gives her a dress to wear, something stretchy since Olivia's hips are wider than hers and doesn't offer her heels (she likes Olivia being shorter than her), and wastes no time offering to help the goddess with her hair. 

(Truly it was a selfish offer. Rebekah simply wanted to feel those curls around her fingers)

Either way Olivia accepts and soon enough she is dressed and ready to go. 

It's odd in a way, even dressed like an average individual, Olivia doesn't look like a human. (It must be the way the sun seems to have left the sky to shine out of Olivia's smile and the stars came along and planted themselves in Olivia's eyes. Like an entire universe sat inside of her and Rebekah is just, Pluto or something.) She looks like an ideal, and Rebekah doesn't resist grabbing her hand and pulling the goddess to her side so she can feel something less than divine. 

Rebekah leads her downstairs hoping to avoid any of her siblings and immediately bites back a groan when she sees Elijah at the bottom of the stairs. 

Elijah's eyes follow Olivia like a flower chasing sunlight. 

Rebekah hasn't seen this intrigued expression on her brother's face before, though she knows. It’s an unsettling sight. The tips of Elijah's sharp teeth are showing through his loosened lips, the desire on his face simply savage.

"Good morn-" 

Rebekah doesn't even let her brother finish his words dragging Olivia with her out the mansion. 

She doesn't feel even the slightest bit guilty. 

* * *

"...Excuse me?"

“Do you find this idea offensive, Olivia?” Rebekah replied, sliding clothes down the railings, taking mere seconds to decide whether or not the clothes fit her standards. 

“Rebekah.” Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose. “You don’t say something like ‘Your style is unfit for my company’ and _not_ expect some offense to be taken.”

“I believe I said ‘Now that we are friends, we should buy you clothes more suitable for interacting in my life.’ There’s a difference.”

Olivia scoffed and then held up a top for Rebekah to see. "Isn't this cute?"

“I … um, honey,” Rebekah spoke with exaggerated pauses, emphasizing that last word. “This is the ugliest shirt I have ever seen.”

"I think it's lovely."

"It's not," Rebekah replies airily. "You have me seriously questioning your taste."

Olivia dons an extraordinarily innocent face, "I thought you had to have taste before you could ever question it?"

Rebekah gasps and stares at the Goddess with wide, amused eyes. "Was that an insult?"

"Merely an observation."

"Oh so you do have claws," Rebekah murmurs, rolling her eyes, Rebekah shoves a dress in Olivia's direction. "Go put this on."

Olivia groans, exaggerated and playful, and she drags herself to the changing room with all the petulance of a toddler throwing a tantrum. Rebekah finds herself staring at the closed stall door, a small smile that refuses to drop playing at her lips. And growing wider when she hears a thud and Olivia murmur "ow".

Shaking her head, she turns to the rack of clothes at her immediate left, her smile dropping when she catches sight of Elena Gilbert, Caroline Forbes, and Bonnie Bennett. 

In an instant Rebekah transforms. 

Any playfulness is washed out of her expression and replaced with a deep coldness and a smile better suited for a lioness about to go in for the kill. 

"Rebekah," Elena says her voice hard as if she's the one who should be bitter about anything. Caroline stands at her left with a matching glare and Bonnie's eyes shoot past Rebekah and to the stall. 

Unconsciously Rebekah finds herself moving in front of the stall door. 

"I didn't realize any of you could _afford_ this store," The Mikaelson drawls lazily. "Unless of course you're using Stefan's money...or is it Damon's now?"

Elena's eyes narrow and for a second she is nothing more than Katherine Pierce.

"At least-"

Whatever subpar insult Elena was readying herself to say dies on the tongue when Olivia slides out in her dress. 

The red satin holding all of the goddesses curves fills out beautifully. Olivia does a slow twirl, her hips moving and Rebekah is transfixed. "Well?"

Rebekah grins, though it's a hungrier thing than before. 

"That dress was made for you."

The goddess returns a slow smile of her own. 

"Who the hell are you!" Caroline bites out, crossing her thin arms, her chin jutting out. 

Olivia's eyes pivot over, she burns gold and vibrant and it stings as it soothes. 

The first time the Mikaelson had met Olivia she had seen her sunshine and light. 

But just now it seemed Olivia had chosen to unfold, to let pretense fall away and suddenly she is shifting shadows, darkness deeper than Rebekah could have ever guessed, and anger. Oh, the anger. She's righteous fury. She's a powerful thing, made one and out for vengeance. Rebekah is intimidated, turned on, and worried.

"My name is Olivia."

Silence stretches on, glassy and cool. 

"It's rude not to offer your names," Olivia stared unashamedly at the three of them, until they flinched and squirmed. 

"You should stay away from her family," Bonnie said with full conviction and certainty- so very sure. "Especially Klaus."

"I'll do what I please," Olivia replies with no hesitation. 

"You don't know what they're capable of." 

It's an insult to Olivia's intelligence. Another God would've removed the girl, left her a pile of dirt. Olivia is her father's daughter and she is calm. She doesn't let the insult land. 

"I know enough."

"Enough to survive them?" This time the blonde is the one talking. Her blue eyes like crystals, arrogant with her youth. 

Olivia's eyes run over Caroline critically, as though she was a hanging piece of art- in a style she didn't find particularly pleasant. "Survival or death doesn't concern me," Olivia answered amused. As if she was a very stupid child dabbling in something far beyond her comprehension. Her expression shifted. Burned.

"Ignore them, they're dull," Rebekah slides her hand down Olivia's arm and tangles there hands together. 

It's a dismissal through and through and for a moment it looks like one of the girls intends to speak up, but instead they leave with their tails tucked in between their legs. 

The shadows and darkness in her eyes subsides immediately, and the clouds clear for the sun to return and Olivia is luminous and adorable. 

"Who's Klaus?" She asks quietly, calmly. 

Rebekah swallows. "Nik. People outside of the family call him that."

Olivia's brow furrows. "Why?"

Something somber touches the blue of Rebekah's eyes. "You have to ask him."

Olivia hums in response. "People are scared of you and your family, aren't they?"

Rebekah wanted to be honest. 

She had to be. She needed to be if she wanted Olivia as a friend before anything else. 

Friends were strange and fragile things. Rebekah knew this better than anyone. In fact, it had been a very long time since she had considered anyone even close to a friend. 

Olivia reached her though.

"Yes they are," Rebekah says simply. 

"That fear they hold...it's not without reason, is it?"

"No."

Olivia reads Rebekah's face intently. "I do see you and your family."

Rebekah stiffened. 

"And what do you see?" Rebekah quietly asked her, eyes a rising storm. 

"Enough to know that you all have a rather impressive capacity for violence," Olivia murmured. 

"That doesn't scare you?" Rebekah asks. 

"Rebekah," Olivia says airily. "The underworld is where I grew from. Death and darkness is all I've ever known and for Gods the concept of right and wrong....it's not the same."

"And yet you seem so delicate."

Olivia blinks. "You think I am delicate?"

"You wear silk dresses and flower crowns...you are soft and unbearably kind."

Olivia still looks like the sun, but just like the sun she burns and right now her beauty makes Rebekah want to flinch (but Rebekah is an original and she flinches for no one). 

"I also nearly destroyed this entire town because I felt threatened."

Rebekah quickly understands she will never be able to see Olivia as harmless. She might not do any harm but trusting Olivia in that and forgetting what she was are two different things entirely. 

Olivia forces a smile, "Let's continue, shall we?"

That's all the motivation Rebekah needs to leave this conversation behind. 

* * *

The fireplace in the Mikaelson mansion keeps a steady flame in the mouth of its jaws, casting flickering orange hues and purple shadows over the room. The only other source of light is coming from the west window which gives a straight view to the garden. 

Niklaus sits on the couch, his pencil dragging against the paper of his sketchbook. 

Olivia, his muse, sits across from him and she's looking away, elbow on the armrest and her chin resting in her hand.

Her eyes are distant and dark in the low lighting, as they have been since she returned from her outing with Rebekah. He can tell Olivia is mulling something over, has been for a while now and he can't soothe his mate if he doesn’t know what’s amiss. 

“Love, is there something on your mind?”

Olivia's head tilts towards the sound of her mate’s voice, exposing more of her neck. She lowers her hand from her face and straightens, looking over at Niklaus's direction but doesn't meet his eyes. “Just thinking about you."

He smirked, "I'm flattered."

She laughs but its hesitant. 

There's a long silence, and then- "Do you want me to call you Klaus?"

There's a silence, a silence so deep it kills something in the air. Olivia doesn't look like she minds that little death. 

“Do not ask things,” he says gently, “that you already know.” 

"Why do they call you Klaus?"

"It's easier that way."

She frowns. She doesn't understand what that means. Olivia is a young goddess. Only twenty years old. A child to him and his kin and yet there was _nothing_ child-like about her.

Her body was supple, obviously well into the bloom of womanhood with pleasingly wide hips and thighs. With her mouth just as stubbornly set for war as Athena. Her hair was wild, a dark brown-black set of dense curls that flowed over her tawny shoulders in thick waves. 

She walked towards him and reached for his face. 

He could not help but feel the warmth of her hand and found himself damningly eager to lean into it. He frowned; he could not remember being so affected by a simple stroke of a hand, but then, when was the last time someone had touched him in anything other than fear? 

"Names are important," she says, leaning closer and stretching out more. "I would like to call you by yours."

"Then do so," he says, careful, clever. 

His eyes are stormy, bedroom eyes; she could have a man with those eyes, yes. Does she want him? The snake in her belly sinks its fangs into her heart, and she feels...hunger.

" _Niklaus,_ " she whispers. 

Whatever he feels of the maelstrom in her blood pleases him. 

"Olivia," he returns. 

She smiles and it's warm and sunny and it springs heat into his heart. 

She is carelessly tugged away by none other than Kol. He shoots a smug smirk over to Niklaus and interlocks Olivia's and his hands. Kol raises his free hand and pulls on a perfect curl, causing Olivia to duck her head and hide the goofy smile working its way onto her face.

Possessiveness lights the blue of Niklaus's eyes and Kol's face goes thunderous with rage. The two of them had always spiralled so easily into possessive obsession, it was no surprise that it manifested in Olivia's attention. 

It's Elijah, clear, calm, cool Elijah who appears in between them. 

"There needs to be a discussion about this," Elijah says. 

And Niklaus tugs Olivia into his chest. 

"Fuck that," Kol snaps. "Don't touch her."

"I have every right to touch her," Niklaus growls back. "She's _mine_."

Olivia begins to squirm in Niklaus's grip, he was holding her much too tightly. It was like he wanted to absorb her into his body so she could always remain close, but the pressure- "Nikla..." she gasps out when it becomes difficult to breathe. Trying to pull herself out of his arms. 

"You're hurting her," Rebekah bites out, ripping Niklaus's arm away from Olivia's waist and tugging the girl away from all of them by the wrist. 

"Love," Niklaus says, his eyes taking in the distance between him and Olivia. Wanting nothing more than to cross it and hold her again. He would be gentle, he is capable of gentleness, especially for Olivia."I-"

"You shouldn't have touched her to begin with," Kol sneers, finding the weak underbelly and digging in. 

The original hybrids eyes narrow dangerously. "Funny coming from you," he says hotly. "Considering you were the one who couldn't even manage basic control and almost tore her throat out."

That makes a brittle laugh echo from Kol's mouth. "Why do you care? Shouldn't you be chasing after your darling Caroline?"

"Kol," Elijah says sharply. Tugging Niklaus back when he springs forward to attack Kol. "That is enough."

"I don't need a lecture from you, Elijah," Kol burns with darkness. "Keep your words."

"Olivia deserves-" Elijah begins. 

"Someone who won't abandon her for Katerina or Elena because they did something that reminded you of Tatia," Kol wastes no time digging his sharp knives of words into everyone of them. "Finn will stumble after his boring Sage, Rebekah will find another man to throw herself into and I- I will be the only one to stand by her while the rest of you fail her."

That's truly what spirals it all out of control. 

All too soon, the voices of the Mikaelson's clash into one another, arguing, yelling, insulting one another, degrading each other. 

And Olivia looks so lost and confused and maybe even a little frightened, huddling into herself. "Is that true?" She whispers quietly. Almost to herself. "Is Kol the only one who wants me here?" Her voice so small it tugs on their hearts unpleasantly. 

"Yes," Kol immediately confirms. 

"No," Elijah says, some of his stotiscm giving way to genuine anger. 

"It's not true at all, love," Niklaus comes before her cradling her face. "Kol is trying to separate you from us so her can claim you. He's being nothing more than a selfish-"

"Fine," Kol said. "It's _my_ fault. Forgive me for being the only one who wants Olivia wholeheartedly and forever."

Olivia's eyes go red around the edges and begin to flood with tears, she was silent, eyes shimmering. 

"That," Elijah says a hardened glint to his eyes, Niklaus takes Olivia's right side so Elijah goes to her left, his hand drops to her hip as he pulled the goddess flush against his side. "Is incredibly emotionally manipulative."

Elijah can feel his heart flail in his chest, like a bird panicking in a cage too small, because it was working. He wanted to snarl and for the first time ever, he wanted to be the one to dagger one of his siblings. It did not matter who or what had come before Olivia, not when a single touch of her hand on his arm eclipsed them all. 

"Olivia..." Rebekah pleads, her voice quivering. 

"I think I want to be alone," Olivia murmurs tugging herself away from everyone and everything, unable to meet anyone's eyes. 

"Love-"

"I want to be alone," Olivia repeats, the words cutting like razors. Warm tears slid down her cheeks and gathered at the tip of her chin. "I think I made a mistake. Heard something that wasn't ever there."

Niklaus swallows loud enough for her to hear, and sigh quietly. "Olivia," he says, making her halt in place. "Any intention I had for anyone else immediately ended the second I saw you." His expression was carefully placed- so incomprehensible that Olivia can barely stand to look at him, can't begin to parse out all she sees when she looks deeper.

She sets her teeth on either edges, grinds her molars harshly, and nods. 

"We all want you, Olivia," Elijah says gently. Sincerity flowing off his tongue and entire demeanor. "And we are all possessive. _It makes some of us incapable of knowing when to stop."_

There's a part of Olivia that's embarrassed by Elijah's admission, because this is Elijah without the exterior and without the gentlemanly mask, without guilt and anger and the all too human pride. 

"Then maybe that should be handled between all of you before you all pull me apart," Olivia replies, trying desperately to stop the tears from falling. 

None of them have any words to offer. 

"I'm not leaving," she says only because she thinks they all need to hear it. "I just...I need a minute."

* * *

It's silent after Olivia makes her way back out to the garden, but only for a moment, because then Niklaus has his hand on Kol's neck. 

"Go on Niklaus," Kol goads, "grab your daggers. Show Olivia just what you are."

"Oh no _little_ brother, I think I'd rather do this," it happens so quickly there's no chance for anyone to intercede, Niklaus Mikaelson bites brutally into Kol's neck ripping his flesh out with his teeth causing a rush of blood to drip down his chin and wolf venom to shoot through Kol's veins. 

Darkness and hunger become Kol's universe, filling him with need and a sucking emptiness, his body collapsing without his permission. 

"Niklaus!" Rebekah gasps, immediately she's by Kol's side pulling her dazed brother back up as Elijah holds Niklaus. 

Kol gurgles a bloody laugh, his anger, his wildness making a mess within his eyes. "Do you really think she'll want you?"

It's an idle thing and low- aimed low, at the soft skin of Klaus's underbelly in a gutting maneuver. He can feel it connect deep down. 

"You'll hurt her. As easily as you've hurt every single one of us. You'll make her cry. She deserves better than you."

At this Niklaus steps forward, jerking against Elijah's grip. "You are no better than me in any capacity."

"We all are bonded to her," Elijah says. "And if we cannot manage to find balance in this we will all lose her."

"Elijah ever the voice of reason," Niklaus sneers, the sarcasm dripping off his voice as fluidly as Kol's blood did. 

"Do you think I want to share Olivia with any of you?" Elijah returns quickly, keeping steady watch of Niklaus. His hybrid brother was always a breath away from violence. He'd seen him wake up from a deep sleep and rip out someone's throat for daring to get too close. "Do you think I don't want her entirely for myself? Because I do. We are bonded to her and beyond that we are family- tied by blood as surely as prisoners are tied in a dungeon. If we are to not suffer as prisoners do, we must make peace."

"Elijah's right," Rebekah says quietly. 

"I don't want to share her," Kol says already sweat beading down his face. He shakes some, but he's still standing. 

"You don't have a choice," Elijah points out. "Either you find a way to accept the circumstances for what they are or you will drive her away."

There's a moment when Kol closes his eyes like it hurts to look at any of them before licking his lips and saying, "okay."

"Niklaus?"

"So it must be," he says staring Kol down. 

Rebekah coughs, trying to get his attention. "Heal-

"No." Niklaus immediately declines. "Let this be a lesson. Should anyone try to pry Olivia out of my hands again they will suffer."

As if summoned, the backdoor is opened and Olivia walks through, her head lowered and her arms wrapped around her waist as she hugs herself. Goosebumps line her arms and her nipples poke through the thin fabric of her dress as she shivers. 

Sudden desire reeks havoc to Kol's weakened control. If only he had her blood. If only the void would be filled he would be strong and capable. 

His lips parted on their own.

If a humans's blood was good, maybe a goddess's...Oh...Just one taste would be enough. A few drops maybe. He could be good, he could control it. And she was suddenly so close to him, worry painting her face. She didn't even register Kol as a threat, he could so easily just-

"Kol," she murmured softly. Her hand wiping the sweat that brew at his brow. So gentle. So sweet. 

"Darling," he breathes out, her wrist so close to his mouth. It would be so easy. So easy. 

Kol felt himself tense. Here he was contemplating the best way to savage Olivia like a lowly animal. The realization of his depravity unfurling numbness down to his fingertips. 

Panting, he slowly, deliberately pulled himself away from the temptation.

Kol pressed his eyes shut and focused on the clawing hunger. _Olivia is not thing_ , he told it, snarling. _And you are not me._

"What happen-" Her voice breaks off when she sees the blood smearing Niklaus's chin. She makes a quiet, wounded sound. "Why would you...?"

"He tried to take you from me."

And that's it isn't it. 

Niklaus tilts his head and parts his lips, just barely, and even with the fine tremble running through him as the motion makes him look predatory, dangerous.

Niklaus is predatory and dangerous.

Beyond that he is furious. 

She reaches out and wraps her hand around Kol's wrist, her fingers sliding up under the cuff of his shirt to find and touch bare skin, only a shade warmer than the cold air around them. Then Niklaus's sharp gaze snaps to her, and Olivia is proud of the fact that she doesn't cower away, because she kind of wants to.

"What do we do? Does he need blood?"

"Only one person can heal him," Elijah gestures towards Niklaus, his eyes brimming with disappointment but not surprise. 

Niklaus appraised her with wolfish eyes as she approached. "Please-"

"No."

"But-"

"I said no." It comes out quiet, forced between gritted teeth, but it comes out regardless, hanging in the air between them. 

Here is the thing about Niklaus Mikaelson.

He is lonely.

It almost seems too banal an emotion for someone like the hybrid but it is the right one nonetheless. Something happened to him, something terrible; she couldn't see it all, the loss of someone, a sibling maybe, younger most certainly. And so long ago, even before he became what he is now, Niklaus turned himself into a sword (into Klaus), into a hunter and then he realized, as too many men do that not all swords can be melted down, and so he stayed that way.

"I don't want you to hurt each other because of me."

The sky is dark, the sun long faded but Olivia burns so much so she looks on fire herself. It could be an omen, a blessing; or nothing at all, but the orange yellow cuts her face oddly, ethereal, so she looks more goddess than human. She is so close all Niklaus can see is her. The hybrid could see a potential playground of wars fought over a face like hers, a man would work himself into the ground for it, go to his knees and beg to keep it, endure torture to protect it. 

"I gave my answer."

"That doesn't mean I have to accept it," Olivia bites back. Niklaus stares at her, and wonders if Olivia's next words will truly be the ones to damn him. "You'll give him your blood or I'll try giving him mine."

"Your blood could do nothing," Elijah says wryly, something uncomfortable taking root inside of him. 

"It couldn't hurt to try."

"And if he loses control?" Niklaus bites out. "Goes feral."

Olivia blinks once and then meets Kol's eyes, head tilted. "That's a risk I'm willing to take."

"That's a risk you aren't allowed to take."

" _Allowed_?" She exerts her authority for the first time. His eyes sparkle; she thinks he likes it. "I'm a goddess. Not a girl and I demand equality in this or there is nothing here for me."

That makes them all tense. 

"To other Gods I am a daughter. A niece. Docile and easy to rape. They are not beyond such things and I do not want to be the same to all of you."

"You aren't."

"Then prove it," the words ring like a cathedral bell. 

Niklaus crosses the space between them, stands in front of her and, to her surprise, places his big hands over her small ones and looks her square in the eye.

His hands rub at her knuckles; big, callused hand. She lets him hold her a good minute like that, his big eyes asking questions she doesn’t know how to answer. 

He uses his teeth to rip his wrist open, pressing the wound to his brothers lips. 

It doesn't take too long for the wound to heal, to Kol be fully back together again. 

A rush of relief paints her face. 

* * *

"What's wrong Bonnie? You've been tense all day."

The Bennett witch frowns, her eyes looking off into the distance. "That girl...the one with Rebekah."

"Yes?" Caroline hedges and Elena leans forward eager to hear more. 

"I don't think she is a witch."

"What else could she be?" Elena asks. "You said you felt her power."

"And I did-" Bonnie cuts herself off. "I don't know. I just think we're missing something."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more of filler one, to give more context and depth into the relationship of a young Goddess and her soul-mates.

Elijah is the first to ask. 

It's a comfortable evening, all of the Mikaelson siblings—excluding Finn— sat by the fire. Each nursing a glass of their chosen beverage. 

Kol and Niklaus drinking aged bourbon. 

Elijah and Rebekah indulging a deep red wine. 

Olivia drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows. 

Surprisingly the argument and anger from before was already forgotten and the peace already returned. 

"What is the underworld like?"

His voice is calm, per-usual, and a smooth caress in the air. The crackling of the fire and the dim classical music playing in the background suiting his voice, making it almost all together sound like a song. 

The questions she had expected much earlier had finally chosen to arise. 

"The underworld," Olivia begins and then subsequently pauses, "is built off practicality."

She shakes her head and begins again. "It is always dark there and golden— my mother likes gold. There are souls everywhere, as well. I try to comfort them, they are often scared and new and I don't want them to see us as unmerciful."

"When one first arrives, unless they know the shortcuts I do, they see the Styx. It's a dark river and doesn't lap at the shores the way normal water does. Doesn't behave the way normal water does. When I was much younger than I am now, Charon used to let me ride the boat with him. He would never admit it but I think he enjoyed my company. Even though he always said I asked far too many questions."

She smiles fondly when thinking of the older God. He had once been far more subservient, but as she grew his attitude had become more open. 

"Father has no grand castle. He has never quite enjoyed ostentation in that way," Olivia tilts her head. "It is a cottage in a field-maze thousands of miles along; emeralds and citrine taking the place of the cornstalk and wheat. It is beautiful and done entirely for my mother."

"Your parents," Rebekah says staring into the fire. "What are they like?"

Olivia swirls her hot chocolate, trying to get the last marshmallow though it just keeps evading her mouth. 

"Father doesn't talk much. He's very quiet and is too stern to really smile. People say he's intimidating although I never would say so. Mother also doesn't talk much but she's more open than father is. She's very very beautiful too and smarter than anyone ever gives her credit for."

"What about other Gods and Godesses? Surely they are not exactly as their mythology says," Niklaus adds interested. Eyes solely focused on Olivia. 

"I wouldn't know," the young goddess murmurs quietly. "My parents refused to allow me to be left alone with any of the men of Olympus."

They stare at her. 

Those words a spray of cold water over their heads. 

"I am not as naive as you all wish me to be," she says and her voice remains even. She is not placating nor excusing. Her eyes are bright, hard, and she tilts her head towards them, slowly and almost defiantly. "The world has progressed far. Gods rarely go forward- immortality doesn't often encourage change."

She stands suddenly restless. "I suppose that's why I was so angry with you," and she meets Niklaus's eyes.

Her anger had surprised her - it always does, the snap of her temper like doubting a candle, any light or flame within her choked from life by black.

"I'm trying," Niklaus said slowly, then he closed his mouth as if trying to catch those words back into it, but, aware that he was unable to do that, he pushed on, "I'm trying not to make the same mistake I did earlier."

Olivia felt her eyebrows rise higher up on her forehead. "What does that mean?"

"It means I did not consider where you came from and what it meant when a man refused to listen to you."

The truth of it sits on the air heavily. 

Footsteps break the silence and everyone's head turns to the staircase where Esther and Finn begin to make their way down. 

Her head swivels before her cold eyes lock on Olivia. 

"Ah," Esther says, "You're still with us."

She eases towards Olivia with a predatory stride, the stride she imagines Hera takes when coming upon Zeus's mistresses. 

"It has been made clear to me that I may have been _impolite_ at our first meeting," Her dark eyes wither with darkness. "I wrongly assumed you were just another one of my son's many lovers."

Something akin to jealousy bites at Olivia's skin. She can't help suddenly feeling that her presence must be a colossal irritant to the Mikaelson siblings. No doubt the assorted other conquests conduct themselves far more decorously...and actually were known to things like sex and intimacy. 

It makes her feel infantile. 

She tries to smile but the action feels uncomfortable on her face and she may as well have grimaced. "I could have conducted myself more...appropriately as well," the words are dragged from her mouth like a body on spikes. 

The witch smiles viciously. 

"Hmm," Esther tilts her head. "You are rather powerful. To affect nature so easily."

Esther _knows_ that, barely beyond Olivia, the creature is there; lurking just out of her sight, snarling in the shadows. This girl a she-wolf with a dainty smile, Esther's sure; she has already made the mistake of underestimating her once, and she is no fool.

"Tell me are you a Bennett witch?"

Her eyebrows raise; her smiles drops. She does not look back up at Esther for a beat; when she does, her head is just barely tilted to the left and she has enough of a curve to her mouth to show her teeth. It’s a far _sharper_ -edged thing than submission.

"No," Olivia says simply. 

"A Martin, then."

"Not that either, I'm afraid."

"Well surely you come from a powerful line," the witch edges closer. "Don't you?" 

"Yes," Olivia murmurs. "My mother and father are quite powerful."

"Then-"

"Mother," Elijah interrupts. "Surely these questions are unnecessary."

Esther drops her gaze to her son. The coldness not softening in the slightest although Elijah seems mostly...unaffected by it. Outwardly anyways. 

"I am simply trying to get to know your intended," She waves her hand dramatically. "Shouldn't a mother be protective of her children and make sure they're not inviting ruin in?" 

Before anyone can say anything, Olivia is speaking. "I don't mind the questions, truly."

Olivia's tone accuses nothing, and betrays less. She is not angry; but she is also not telling the truth - though she must know that Esther already _knows_ that. If anoyone is sure of anything about Olivia, it’s that she’s no fool, either.

"Women often don't survive long under my children's attentions."

Those words darken the air with offense and anger, though none speak out....yet. 

"I'm aware."

“What makes you think you'll survive?” she says, harder.

Olivia’s smile, bland and bright, vanishes. At once, Esther feels both too hot and too cold. 

Gold eyes bore into her, direct, refusing to look away.

"I don't have an answer to that yet."

The edges of the chair cut into Niklaus’s palms; he feels stuck, trapped somewhere between attraction and shocked admiration at her indignance.

Except, it’s _not_ indignance. It’s power. Olivia tilts her head, waiting, mouth set like a challenge, inviting anyone to contend her.

She turns to him, and for the first time, she _looks_ at him. Oh, she’s been studying him every moment they’ve had together - but he has not seen her _look_ at him yet, the full length of him, has not seen the blatant pass of heated consideration flush her face - and now, she is looking at him as a woman looks at a man. She is looking at him level; she is looking at him as her soulmate - and Niklaus finds that he is _enraptured_ by it.

Her gaze drifts over every single one of them with pure consideration. 

None of them are immune. 

"I'm in a position I did not expect," Olivia says quietly, but her voice is clear. "—I would like to get to know your children...regardless of what that may mean for me."

It's a straight hard statement. 

And probably the most honest thing she has ever said. 

Esther's eyes narrow dangerously. "Of course," she says pleasantly. 

She's off a second later, escaping back to her rooms to mull over Olivia's every word. 

And when she's gone Olivia can finally breathe. 

* * *

They're different from that moment forward, more bold. More obvious. 

_Elijah:_

It was early in the day when he approached, he didn't barge in like Kol, Niklaus, or Rebekah would have done. He knocked twice. 

A steady beat of sound against the wooden door. 

Instead of saying anything out loud, Olivia makes her way to the door and opens it wide enough for the Mikaelson to enter. Elijah, the man of few words that he is, closes the door behind him and makes no initial effort to break the silence. 

"Hi," Olivia finally says, turning to face Elijah who is guiltlessly staring at her. She frowns a little. "Are you okay?"

"Excuse me?"

Olivia shrugs. "You seem a little… distracted today," she says. "Quiet. Pensive."

"I have a lot on my mind." Elijah's eyes are dark and he is still gazing calmly down at Olivia with the same immovable expression, and for a moment she is trapped in that gaze. 

"Oh?"

Elijah offers her a small smile, she leaned her wild cheek into the curve of his palm, and he sucked in a hot gasp of air. "I have a lot to think about."

"Don't you always?" Olivia says. 

"I do," he agrees, "Would you join me for the evening?" It's an idle question, smoothly flowing, but Olivia can feel a rush of energy vibrating off the Original. The warmth in Elijah's chest was building and building. He thought it might burst or dissipate, but it stayed, pressing against his ribs. 

She smiles, wide and gummy like a child. "Feel free to take me away."

And so he does. 

One of his hands drop to her lower back as he guides her to his car. He is a gentleman in every means of the word as he opens her side of the door first and then reaches over to buckle her in. 

They drive for a while making idle conversation and Olivia sees it before they even arrive. 

A sunflower field. 

It spans miles and miles of land and Olivia can feel the buzz of power burn in her skin. She's so giddy she immediately reaches for Elijah's hand and the Mikaelson immediately adjust the grip so their fingers are intertwined. 

"It's beautiful," she murmurs with quiet astonishment and is out the car before Elijah could be a proper gentleman. 

Still - he has never imagined a goddess with so little sense of personal decorum; even now, Elijah watches Olivia take her shoes off, leaving them in the grass and lifting her dress to jog towards the flowers. 

"Olivia," Elijah calls, pleased with himself at the wild way she whips herself around, and her face lights bright when she sees him. She is careless of her state. 

Suddenly she is there, throwing herself into his arms for a hug. 

He curves his fingers around her waist, holds her tightly. "You would think I'd offered you a handful of jewels."

"Jewels are nothing when compared to flowers," Olivia replies earnestly. 

"Is that so?" The Mikaelson comments amusedly. 

"Very much so," Olivia says without missing a beat. 

Elijah takes his time setting up the picnic while Olivia prances about touching at the plants, her mere presence making them grow brighter than they've ever been. 

When she's sitting beside him and Elijah feeds her fresh fruit and she shares a large glass of bubbly pink champagne with him. 

They talk about anything and everything. Their discussions over the course of the next few hours are wide-ranging, complex, and the most lively Elijah has ever engaged in. 

"Icarus," he whispers. "It's one of my least favorite myths. Well I suppose it's not really a myth. Either way, I think both parties are, for lack of a better word, quite stupid."

"I like Icarus," Olivia replies strongly.

"Oh," Elijah says playfully. A ways away from the hardened man from before. "Why is that?"

"I think its truth of human nature."

"I respect your decision fully," Elijah says, his smile apparent in his words. He wants to expand on that, tell her he respects every decision she makes. "While I do respect it, I won't stop believing it is wrong."

Olivia's jaw drops. She quickly recovers and rolls her eyes. Her eyes jump to him and he represses a shiver, her gaze is as powerful as always.

"Their lack of communication lead to their fault and loss. That's an important message."

"So you enjoy the message. That doesn't necessarily mean you enjoy the tale, or make Icarus less of an uneducated fool."

"Hey," Olivia admonished playfully. "The world needs its uneducated fools. Icarus had been given his first taste of freedom, of course he would abuse the warnings, he was too filled with excitement to see any repercussions. And you can't tell me you haven't, like Icarus, flown too close to the sun."

Elijah smiled then, so openly and kindly.

"With the sun being as beautiful as you how could I resist coming closer?"

Olivia threw her head back and laughed and heady feeling pressed to his heart. "I suppose that makes you just as much of an uneducated fool as the rest of us," bumbing into the Mikaelson playfully.

He reaches out without thought, without hesitation, crossing the minute chasm between them to press his palm against Olivia's chest, above her heart.

He closes his eyes, feels the swell of her breast and the lingering vibration beneath his fingers as Olivia makes a soft, pleased sound, and covers Elijah's hand with her own. 

"I don't mind being a fool for you."

She feels Elijah squeeze her breast, feels his thumb rub over her nipple. Something wet and pulsing begins between her thighs.

Olivia is nothing less than malleable, allowing Elijah's careful hands to draw her closer. She cuddles into his strength his body. 

She is diamond, is stone, hallowed halls and sea caves and Elijah only finds peace inside of her. 

She lifts her head, her hands sliding up to cup Elijah's face, and draws him forth with a kiss. Its chaste, but passionate, the press of lips warm and soft and Elijah aches. Aches deeply, for more of it. He pulls Olivia towards him, kneels up and pushes Olivia to the ground.

She allows it- everything she does is a concession, a fisherman offering bait because she knows how hungry the fish are. Her thighs spread and Elijah covers her. 

She falls asleep in his arms, she dreams of blushing red apples and bright flowers, of biting into yielding flesh of ripe fruit. Of Elijah leaning in and biting into the other side. Taste the sweet, sun-golden juice running down her throat, joins with Elijah consuming until there is nothing but a core left. Elijah tosses the core away and kisses her fingers and then her lips, harsh and bruising. Looks up at her, eyes burning red hot, and says, "My sweet Olivia."

_Niklaus:_

Niklaus is _furious._

Barrelling through the mansion, he is blind and deaf to all but his end-goal. 

He does not announce himself when he reaches her rooms; bangs the door on the way in, finds Olivia, seated in the window with a book open in her lap.

She doesn’t flinch or jump, slowly, she marks her page and lifts her head - a smile the shade of strawberries, curving infuriatingly in her mouth. 

She is, as always, lovely. So dazzlingly pretty. The dark edge of her eyes glitter as her gaze drops, eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks, graceful in the easy bend of her body in a dress of fine red silk - a gift of his, in fact.

“Niklaus."

He can hardly bear to tear his eyes from her lips and finds himself going only so far as her collarbone, the delicate line of her neck. He knows she knows he is looking; finds the play of it in the dip of her dimples. 

"You're mine for the day."

"Oh?" Olivia laughs lightly. 

"Yes, now come along, love."

He pulls her to her feet harder than she needs to be so she stumbles into his chest and he gets to hold her. Presses his long face to her neck, his stern façade crumbling into a hidden passion. She folds fingers into his unruly hair as his beard scratches her cheek and is rewarded with a whimper. It is a mystery to her, how even the smallest of touches seems to produce such a powerful response in him. 

"You are so lovely," he whispers into her hair. 

He guides her to his most well protected room. The room he doesn't allow his siblings to enter and Olivia had been to shy to try to. 

She notices the mural immediately -- a lantern glowing in bright topaz, the flames light in rubies, and all around them shining onyx. Of all the copious displays of his affection, this one is the one that tightens her throat.

"You look lovely," he repeats, quietly into the air. She wonders if he sees his handiwork shining in her eyes. 

"I-" 

The words fail her. 

What could she say that would measure up to this. 

" _Your description of the underworld left me inspired_."

He looks entirely pleased at her speechlessness. 

He takes her by her hips, places her in front of an empty canvas. Her back to his front, no space, no air between them. 

"I hope you realize art has never been one of my talents."

He chuckles. "Anyone can create art."

It is still the same calm, ragged silk voice she’s come to recognize—Olivia raises her golden eyes to the artist who has bared the immense darkness and beauty of his mind to her. Shown her its baroque labyrinth, an exhilarating paradox of order and chaos.

"Not me, I don't have the talent."

"Anyone can, provided the right amount of time dedicated. Talent is nothing but pursued interest, and isn't as innate as people think."

"I think I'd fail to finish."

"You don't lack patience."

"I lack drive." Olivia pressed his hands into her abdomen. "Any hobbies I have are more....practical. Less to do with the abstract."

"Do you not create art everytime you step outside? There is beauty, there is art, in everything. Even the most tragic, the most violent, the most inexplicable horrors, can have a quiet, understated art to them," he paused, and the up-well of affection, of protectiveness he feels for her almost staggers him. "Though I'm afraid you won't be painting today."

"Then what will I be doing?"

"Sitting for me."

She’s breathing harder; he can hear the short jump on her inhale. Her eyes are a little wide, pupils blown dark and endless. "You want to paint me? Just as I am in this very moment?" She turned toward him with fluid grace; he swallowed involuntarily as her fingers lightly touched his chin.

"Yes and no," he murmurs. "I want the Goddess, pure and unfiltered and unhindered by humanity."

Olivia goes quiet. 

She's quiet for so long, Niklaus gives her a look. "You don't have to Olivia, if it makes you uncomfortable. It's merely a request."

Niklaus means it, Olivia knows he does. If Olivia says no, there will be no cajoling, no guilt trips, nothing more than the slight downturn of his mouth in muted disappointment. Niklaus won't ask again. Really, he asks nothing of her, outside of her continued presence in the Mikaelson mansion. 

"I want you to paint me, Niklaus."

Niklaus grins and he looks playful. _Y_ _ou_ _are setting yourself up to marry this sweetling_ , his mind whispered, and even knowing all the ways that could be a bad idea, knowing how she could reject him; still, his mouth said, "I have something for you."

He slips away and hands her a white box. 

"I will return shortly." 

And then he is gone before she can open it. 

The dress within was...It was rather...vulgar, with the way silk teased at the viewer. Not shying away from nudity but tasteful in its application. She put it on and when she caught an image of herself in a hanging mirror a light flush reddened the brown skin of her cheeks. 

_Aphrodite would be proud of her._

Niklaus returned and Gods did he stare, he stared and stared and stared. 

The white fabric silk and so thin, it looked like water on her skin, conforming to every jut and curve, every bit of her available for viewing. 

"Shall we?"

He takes her to a small red couch and sits her down. Quickly following he wedged his own foot between hers, and with a careless sort of presumption, nudged at her ankles so she was forced to widen. 

"I want you to arch further," he told her. "Like this."

And he continued guiding her body into his desired shape, his touch firm and lingering. He had her emphasize the jut of her hips and thrust of her chest- so that her breast were proffered forward, as if she were coyly presenting them. They were marks from her bra on the underside of her breast and he reached up to rub them away from her tender skin. 

"Such artistry I hold in my hands."

They were a fine set; only slightly paler than the rest of her. He could not resist having a taste of her. 

He moved the fabric aside and bent his head low to capture one of her soft, brown peaks within his mouth and enjoyed very much the sudden gasp the motion elicited. He suckled like a man possessed and her skin tasted like honey and nectar and sweetness. He felt her iron grip tug his hair, keeping him focused on her. His other hand pinched at the other breast, and when she let up her grip after a moment, he switched. Her breath sped up, and her pulse with it, and for a few moments he preoccupied himself purely on her pleasure, switching back and forth between pinching and suckling, enjoying each and every little cry the goddess ground out at his ministrations. 

When he finally pulled away they were wet and peaked and beautiful. 

“Stars above, you are a beautiful woman,” he murmured and was satisfied to see her blush a soft red in response.

He adjusted the fabric more and she did not protest when his hand gently brushed her legs apart and slowly stroked her sex for the first time. She was soft; so soft, it made him suck in a harsh breath. 

He spread her further so the wetness would be more visible in the meager light. 

A smirk tugged at his lips as he looks her over. "Yes just so."

"You're ridiculous," Olivia laughed. 

He took it as a compliment. 

And then he let the masterpiece before him recreate itself through a paintbrush and canvas. 

_Finn:_

He had been avoiding Olivia- of course he has, what else is he to do?

She was stunning and so very distracting, he could lose his focus in it's entirety and then what? He'd be nothing but a bumbling idiot in the presence of a Goddess. 

So he stayed away and forced himself to be content with the forsythia, the little flower. Forced himself to ignore and deny himself Olivia. Until she caught him watching her in the library. 

She was sitting, doing nothing more extraordinary than that, but still his eyes couldn't leave her. 

"Finn," she says lowly. "Do you intend to stare at me for eternity?"

If he could flush, he would. 

He coughs, once and then twice to try and steady himself. 

"No, Olivia," he looks towards the door. "I will take my leave."

"Finn," she says, standing and coming towards him. She doesn't hesitate to step into his personal space and then she's touching him- Gods she's touching him. He could melt into nothingness beneath the heat and power of her mere touch. 

He's looking back up to her, meaning to anyways - but the robe is tied above her waist, pulling it tight against her breasts, so he cannot help but stare. He hadn’t noticed her breasts at first, his focus far too preoccupied in favor of her wide hips, but now he could kick himself for missing them— and when his eyes flick back up to hers, he knows he has been caught. Olivia just smiles, her head tilting as she takes him in.

The Goddess Olivia is sweet; she is dedicated to kindness and informality, to forcing her way through the world on her own terms, quick-witted and warm. 

And he is a beast and a man and death lives in him. He is unworthy in every capacity. 

"Will you join me for a walk?" She asks pleasantly. 

"I shouldn't," Finn immediately replies and immediately her face falls.

"Oh..." she said, pulling away from him and looking so very tiny and unsure. 

"I want to," he immediately consoles, "but I do not want you to suffer my presence."

"The only way I would suffer anything is if you refuse me."

Finn’s heart is in his throat, and there’s absolutely nothing he can do or say to dislodge it. Licking his lips, Finn lets the silence draw on for several moments while he considers what he can say.

"You don't have to agree," she whispers at his continued silence. "I understand."

"Do you?"

"You're a man at war with his own nature. It's expected you would do battle with mine." She looks down at her feet. "I just wanted to see the stars with you."

He wonders if Olivia knows she is his most terrible nightmare wrapped in gold and that she breaks through his restraint so very easily. 

"As you wish."

Olivia slowly, carefully puts her hand in Finn's. It’s less a handshake and more like the way he’s seen young children hold hands in the park before swinging their arms between them like a half-arced jump rope. Friendship, though the grip on Finn's fingers speaks to something much deeper. 

And then Finn does the unthinkable; he pulls Olivia’s hand over, and kisses her knuckles. 

She giggles, girlish and beautiful; she sounds far younger than her age, but happy.

"You're adorable," Finn finds his mouth saying with no approval from his head. 

She gasps. " _Adorable!_ Well I never—" she shakes her head faking indignation. "I am fierce! Formidable, even."

He chuckles. "You say adorable things, and you do adorable things, and you have an adorable face: therefore you are adorable."

She playfully pushes at his chest. 

“Careful, Goddess,” says Finn. “You would steer us into impropriety.”

"Oh but wouldn't that be fun," she teases. His eyes are stained glass when he meets Olivia's. 

They walk and walk and walk until they come across a clearing. 

The moonlight shines down on her and Finn is awestruck. He reminds himself of her strength, not because he had forgotten, but because she is an entire universe and he is ready to tak on his mother's wrath to spare her. She is strong. She is brave. She is determined and capable and she will make the world bow at her feet. 

“You are…everything," Finn says, hands clenched at his side as if he is afraid they might rebel against him and touch, nails little more than talons, voice is so rough it makes the word sound like it is being dragged out of his throat over broken glass. 

She laughs, a little awkward but altogether genuine. 

Neither of them moves for a moment, Finn staring with unnerving flatness, before he falls into fluid motion. He moves like music, confident and refined, like he knows he will not disappoint. Elegance excludes from his posture, from his poise. 

"Are we dancing, Finn?" Olivia asked, amused by the absurdity of the situation yet finding it impossible to either laugh or smile. 

"Yes, Goddess."

"Why?"

"Because the stars moved me, and I wanted them to move you too." He wanted to open his eyes and look into hers. " _Does simple sentimentality reach you, or are you so above me that you can only be satisfied at an altar_?"

It's teasing, light and playful and it's the least stoic she's seen him. 

"You move me," she says. 

How easily he gives in to her whims. 

Olivia has no idea about all the things Finn would give her. A library, an orgasm, a wedding ring. Really, Olivia is asking for so little. 

How could he not indulge her?

_Rebekah:_

Stefan got to her. 

In a way she didn't think someone could get to her. 

She thought she had finally managed to build a wall tall enough to protect herself from words. Yes, Rebekah was aware she was a fool when it came to love. That she let herself be swept away much too easily, that she ruined herself at every turn. 

It never really helped, the knowing. 

She storms her way to her room, and there's Olivia sitting on her bed with impossibly large and sweet eyes. 

Her throat burns and she wants to scream at her simply because the Goddess is there. 

Rebekah, in all her queen-like glory, wide blue eyes, sharp smile, and hair tighter than the tension in her shoulders. Only this time, her eyes are aghast with what looks like fear, her smile is somewhere far beneath her shaky frown, and her hair is soaked from the rain pouring just outside. 

The water drips down to her pale neck and onto to the strap of the gym bag slung over her right shoulder. Both hands grip it closer to her as if she’s holding on for dear life.

Olivia doesn’t know what to say.

Rebekah is smart, calculated.

Everything she says is done with grace and intent, and every action she makes is only executed after she has thought it through ten steps ahead.

And Rebekah has feelings _._

When she laughs, it’s a real laugh. It’s not a fake chuckle or a catatonic giggle, it’s a deep, body-shaking laugh that splits her face open and practically radiates the damn sun. When she’s angry, storm clouds gather and her words spit fire as she stalks the halls like a tornado ready to let loose on anyone in her path.

When she’s thoughtful, her left eyebrow furrows, she nibbles on the inside of her cheek, and Olivia can practically hear the weight of her thoughts. When she’s sad, her lower lip sticks out ever so slightly, and her eyes cloud with something that can only be described as exhaustion.

And right now, Rebekah is afraid.

Her face is still impassive, but her eyes stare off into the distance with a glassy, almost disappointed expression. Her walls are built carefully and thickly, but her eyes are still windows. 

"Rebekah-" Olivia begins standing and reaching for the girl. 

"Don't touch me," she hisses like a fanged and poisonous thing. 

"Reb-"

"Go away."

"I'm not just going to leave you, Rebekah," Olivia replies sternly. 

Her thin pale fingers twitch, and she digs her nails into her own palm. "I don't want you here. I never did. Kol was right in what he said before, you should run off to your perfect parents and stay the hell away from me: _I do not want you."_

In this moment, with Olivia staring at her and her heart beating hard against her ribs, Rebekah thinks that of all her sins, this lie is the worst. 

“You’re a terrible liar,” Olivia retorts, her face an angry red. 

Rebekah almost laughs at that because actually, no, she’s the best liar in all of fucking Mystic Falls, but this lie, the one that’s putting tears in Olivia’s eyes and making her chest constrict. Well, she just doesn’t have the heart to sell it very hard. 

The laugh that jumps out of her mouth, cold and merciless isn't all that real either but it makes Olivia flinch all the same. 

The Goddess doesn't run though. 

"What are you so scared of?" She asks cutting straight to the meat of it all. 

Everything. Her inevitable breakdown. The cracks of her walls expanding until it all crumbles down around her. Being alone. Not having anything left for herself. The helplessness of being stuck. She doesn't know which one to pick because Rebekah's so afraid of everything.

"Nothing," she says outloud. 

Olivia grasps onto Rebekah's hand, ignoring the scowl and glare, it's obvious she's trying to intimidate Olivia, but she mostly looks desperate, like she could really use a hug.

"What are you doing?" The Mikaelson asks warily. 

Olivia pulls on Rebekah's forearm. "I'm making you feel better."

It happens so slowly, it's like Rebekah's watching it unfold right in front of her. Their hands tangled together, tugged gently until Rebekah stumbles forward, Olivia guiding the Mikaelson's arms around her waist and then winding her arms around the blondes neck, pulling her so very close.

That's when Rebekah realizes – she's _holding_ her. 

She's holding her blue gaze now, steadily, and Rebekah's not looking away. Women had always been beautiful to Rebekah, aesthetically pleasing, softer than men. She thinks the Goddess is interesting, far moreso when her sunlit youth is shadowed by the sheer, unshakeable foundation of her power.

She won't write a sonnet dedicated to the curve of her lips...she isn't that ridiculous. 

Maybe the gold of her eyes, though.

"Lie down with me?"

Shyly, Rebekah nods, and Olivia pulls her down to the bed. She opens her arms and Rebekah snuggles in. She tries to distract herself from the fact that Olivia's wrist is resting against the outer curve of her breast. This isn't supposed to be sexual, just comforting. 

"You're so soft," Olivia says, as if she can't believe it. There's a halo of light around Rebekah's long, blonde hair. It's flowing, and soft, and it sort of makes Olivia want to hyperventilate, sometimes, at just how beautiful Rebekah really is. 

Rebekah grips Olivia's waist, curling her fingers into the soft fabric of her oversized shirt. She thinks she could hold on forever, really. 

"So are you," her voice close but quiet. 

They lay together, curled with tight fingers, unwilling to part. It doesn't take long for the Goddess to begin to drift off. 

And when Rebekah moves to look at her more closely, she awakens again. "Bekah?"

"Yes."

"Fell 'sleep."

Rebekah bites her lip in lieu of smiling. "I noticed."

"Oh," says Olivia. "Kay." She wiggles slowly as she stretches. "Stay." Her voice is low and scratchy, and she must know this. Must know all the ways she turns Rebekah to liquid in the palm of her hands. 

"With you?"

Olivia nods. "Mhmm," as she tucks her legs around Rebekah's.

_Kol:_

"Hello, darling," he says smiling, staring, eyes flashing an eerie silver, like a cat’s reflective retina’s. Blood smeared across his face- a pleased, sated predator. 

"Hello," she murmurs in response, looking up at him as she sits in the garden. "Who's blood is this?"

He sits beside her, uncaring of his state. Out of all the Mikaelson siblings, Kol was perhaps the most honest about who he was. 

"One of Nik's hybrids," he rolls his eyes. "She was disrespecting you."

It was jarring to hear those words from him. A burn, but something sweet, like taking a sip of hot chocolate too soon after being made. 

"She was?"

"Mhmm."

He would not repeat the words- never would he allow his darling to hear such degrading, untrue things. "Don't worry darling, I handled it."

Her eyes snag in Kol's gaze, and she feels it – the surge of warmth, of affection, and desire for closeness boiling over into overwhelming obsession and need – the feelings Kol has for her. 

"You're terrible," Olivia says but she sounds more endeared than upset so Kol smiles and basks in the attention. 

"I prefer dedicated."

Olivia giggled and tugged at his hair, simply because she could. "Terrible," she repeated. 

Despite all the blood he looks less severe, softer.

"Won't Niklaus be upset?"

Kol's grin widened. "Probably. Don't let it worry you- I know what boundaries I can test with him. Until recently my own neck was my top priority."

"Until recently?" Olivia said lightly. 

"You gorgeous," Kol purred as he pressed Olivia into the grass. "I'm all for you."

Using his other hand he pulls Olivia's hand to his lips, pressing a kiss against her palm, leaving behind a smear of blood. She pulls Kol against her as if to kiss him, but diverts from his lips at the last second to instead lap lingeringly at the blood on his chin. 

A desperate sound breaks loose from him. 

Taking a deep breath she pulled herself away, "Go shower and change and meet me back here, there's something I want to show you."

Kol doesn't make her wait long. 

She grabs hold of his hand, and his returning grip is tight. 

Then they are off. 

The breeze of outside is nice and cool, and they walk the streets close together. Olivia nearly tucked into Kol. 

He blinks, hearing the music already. 

Olivia's not sure if someone with Kol’s tastes even likes street music, but the ensemble had pleasantly surprised Olivia. Lively but soothing. Two older gentlemen play the violin and cello, while a slightly younger one strums a guitar.

A smattering of people form a loose ring around the street musicians

The tune is upbeat, and Olivia enjoys the thrum that goes through her stomach with the plucks of the cello’s strings. 

“‘How high the moon,’” Kol says to Olivia’s surprise, laughing. “I love Jazz," he says leaning down and burrowing his face into her neck. 

“What does it mean?” Olivia asks. 

His voice is playful as he recites, “’somewhere there's music; how faint the tune.’” The sound swirls around him, fading as she and Kol come closer together.

“’Somewhere there's heaven; how high the moon,’” Kol teases into Olivia's ear. 

“’There is no moon above when love is far away, too, ‘till it comes true. That you love me as I love you.’”

They’re not dancing, but one of Kol's hands is on Olivia's hip. He thumbs slow circles into the faint dip of her pelvic bone. Olivia's right hand closes a little more tightly around his jacket.

"I like this darling, just me and you and our souls together," he kisses her cheek. And then he takes her by the hand and towards an alleyway. 

"Kol," she murmurs oh so sweetly. "We'll miss the music."

"I would rather hear you."

Kol has Olivia pressed against the wall in a moment. 

Desire emanates like fire on Olivia's skin. It’s smoky, and it’s unrelenting. 

“If you give me yourself,” he says, careful, clever. He’s relaxed like he doesn’t hear her heart thrumming. "I'll never let you go."

Her kisses her; it is not kind, but neither is it cruel. He is gentle but insistent, several soft kisses made upon her mouth before he bites her lip. 

“More,” she mewls, nonsensically but he nods, deadly serious, and his lips are on hers in a torrential explosion of lust; chasing, biting, kissing. A long unknown instinct makes her open her mouth to him. His tongue sneaks in, moving like a snake. 

“Did you like what I did, little goddess? Me killing for you? Just for daring to look upon you with lack of respect.” His thumb lightly grazes her lips and she whimpers as he continues his attention on her ear.

He leans back, as if he is letting her think on this; one hand goes boldly to her breast, slipping between her clothes. His smile when he finds her nipple peaked. “I would make war with everyone for you, little one, and I think you would like that." 

She rubs herself against it, chasing friction; he shudders, and she likes this power over him almost as much as she likes the motion itself. Her hands wind up in his hair; coarse and thick, like him. She moves and he moves with her, slow, rhythmic. A dance, she thinks; pressure and cessation, pressure and release. 

"My lovely girl," he murmurs, pleased. 

"A goddess. Not a girl."

When Olivia looks at him, her eyes are darkness, lined with thin halos of firey gold.

"My apologies, my goddess."


	6. Chapter 6

Her name is Sage. 

She has fiery hair and a mouth quick to form a smirk. 

And the second she sees Finn she throws herself in his arms. 

The way Finn held Sage – no care that Olivia saw it – whispering, stroking her face, wiping her tears. It reminds Olivia too much of the way he’s held her and Olivia thinks how foolish she’s been to think that she’s the only one he’s held like that.

It all hits her quite suddenly, the images of this beautiful women kissing Finn, admiring ... _loving_. 

Olivia pulls herself away. Walking up the steps unnoticed by them both. 

The Mikaelson mother, so conveniently, was there waiting for her. 

Olivia felt herself draw in a sharp breath through tightly clenched teeth, knowing how likely it was that the interaction would spark confrontation. 

"Yes?" Olivia said, rolling the end of one of her dark braids between the tips of her fingers. 

Esther came to a halt at Olivia's side and squared her shoulders beneath the loose garments of her flame-colored silks. Per her usual character, she was quick to the point, "it is good of you to be so _understanding_ to Finn and his needs."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." Olivia said coolly, clasping her hands at her front.

"I am referring to my children's numerous lovers. You'll see them every now and then. In fact, I'm sure they will invite them as their dates to the ball this evening."

Olivia's chest began to rise and fall with heavy breaths as Esther's eyes grew ablaze with satisfaction.

"They never last long," The woman continued with a smirk, "you learn the signs after a while – which is serious and which is not."

Olivia's lips twitched, as if she were holding back the desire to snap. Somehow, despite it, her voice came out even and clear, "you must be mistaken." Olivia fixed Esther with a hard stare, her eyes glinting with a hint of sunlight. "I do not believe that any of your children would do such a thing to me."

"Sweet girl," Esther said with an amused smile, "you are nothing more than a complication to my children. They will _always_ seek out other company." Esther quirked a brow and her eyes hardened as she drank in the blatant sadness on the younger woman's face. "Do not let your foolish and naïve _fairytale_ dreams cloud your mind, Olivia. No one will love you here."

Olivia said nothing, but her jaw did tighten sharply for a brief moment as tears welled within her eyes. 

Esther inhaled a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cool air of the hallway.

She then flicked her narrowed eyes past Olivia and continued on her way, moving as if she had never paused in her journey at all.

Olivia does not crumble to pieces though every fiber of her being screams for her to do so.

The lips that kissed her not even three days ago trailing across someone else’s lips, neck, arm ... hands that had held hers softly, firmly, protectively, now holding Sage’s, tracing patterns across her skin, placing imprints and memories on her body.

She thinks she’s going to be sick

* * *

"A ball," he mutters quietly under his breath and then chuckled, a mirthless sound from a man who had been on the wrong end of life's ironies one too many times.

"A ball?" Olivia repeats.

Her eyes are the first thing Elijah notices. Puffy and slightly raw. 

Esther had called a family luncheon, one that clearly did not include Olivia, but certainly included Sage. 

Olivia had handled his mother's coldness with grace and elegance and secluded herself away to her bedroom, but perhaps it had struck her deeper than she showed. 

So he stands in silence, threading his arm around her waist so she can lean on his shoulder. It strikes Elijah, in a way it hasn't before, how tiny and vulnerable she seems. "I was hoping one of you would come for me," she says and fear threads through her voice. 

"Of course I would, Olivia."

"I'm sure you would—until your lover returns to you." Her eyes are wide and fathoms deep. There is something in her vulnerability that pulls at him, makes him wonder just how lonely Olivia has been and for how long- probably longer than anyone has realized. 

"I don't-" he hesitates to speak the words.

There's a long draw of silence. 

"I…" she began haltingly, pausing for a beat so that she may rein in her waning composure, "I suppose that it is an option. For you."

"Olivia." Elijah shakes his head. "Mother is—"

"I'm very aware of what your mother is doing, Elijah."

The following silence is raw and painful. 

His hands feel too big as they hang at his sides, itching to hold her, to do something to fix everything. "I'm sorry," he says. 

She turns towards him and her expression is still, dark, and unfathomable. Her movements are fluid and graceful, but there's a prowl in her step that looks like a hunted animal, and sometimes like a hunter. He wonder what that makes him. 

"I'm sure you wish things where much different than they are." 

He takes a step forward to touch her, to hold her, to let her know that Olivia is not in competition, with anyone. 

Finn is blinded. 

But clarity is Olivia. 

For all of them. 

He leans down to kiss her, to taste her thoroughly and fully, but Olivia stops him. 

Her eyes are so very sad. 

She shakes her head. 

Elijah still feels struck down, like the winds been knocked out of him. It's a bit like when him and Niklaus would spar and the hybrid would land a good punch, except Olivia just used her fingertips, just the barest brush of flesh on flesh, and Elijah was taken away. 

Elijah feels himself move, rubbing a bruise over his chest that isn't there. 

"I will talk to mother about this."

"There's no need for that, Elijah."

"Olivia-"

She's a Godess. Not a girl. Goddesses only get love through pain. A part of Olivia has already decided it wasn't worth it. 

"Kol told me you still had a woman named Katerina in your heart. Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that isn't true?"

Silence. 

Olivia smiled though it was a mockery of her real one. 

"I've waited a long time for you, Olivia," he said softly. "Wait just a little longer for me."

"I think I want you to leave now."

"Oliv-"

"Go."

Elijah went stiff. Sorrow and hurt pooled into his body as his nails dug into his palm. 

He walked out a second later. 

* * *

The building was fairly small and tucked into a barely visible corner off the main street that ran through Mystic Falls.

From the outside the building was unimpressive, a place Olivia could not see a womna such as Rebekah spending her free time. But by the way the original graced up the steps, familiar and accustomed that was certainly the case.

Rebekah opened the door, a chiming sound going off above. The wood creaking and moaning with age.

The first thing that touched Olivia's eyes was the vibrancy of the place. Every square of space provided was used. A beautiful collage of color and fabrics with finished and unfinished dresses. 

"Where are we?" Olivia sunk closer to Rebekah on instinct, she didn't believe the environment was dangerous, but it was unfamiliar. 

A woman entered the room from a doorway leading further back into the building, once her eyes landed on Rebekah her smile died faster than wisps of smoke dissipating after a candle is snuffed out.

Her eyes narrowed and hardened. Something shifting beneath her now tightened skin. 

"How may I help you?"

Rebekah moved forward, confident and calm. "We need dresses, something exquisite. I won't tolerate anything less."

The woman swallows harshly. "Let me see what I have available."

She disappears to the back and the second she is gone, Rebekah curls against Olivia. Her hand running down Olivia's spine, playing with the ends of her curls. 

"Are you excited for the ball?" Olivia asks. 

Rebekah hums noncommittal, she takes a step away from Olivia. "I enjoy dressing up, dancing with someone."

"Will you dance with me?" 

A hot press of emotion pushes against Rebekah's heart. 

Rebekah opened her mouth and promptly closes it once again. She steels herself and forces eye contact. "I have a date."

"A date?" Olivia repeats lowly, her expression faltering. 

There are a few moments of uneasy silence between them, before Olivia does the absolute weirdest thing Rebekah has ever seen her do. She starts laughing. 

“Sorry,” Olivia wheezes out, eyes shiny and cheeks flushed red. “Sorry, this is so ridiculous. It’s just – “ she lets out a few stray giggles and asks, “Have you ever been so completely wrong about something that you thought you understood?"

"Olivia-"

"It's fine, Rebekah," Olivia says softly. “I’m fine, I’m just – ” she shrugs a shoulder slightly, and trails off. The Goddess takes a step towards the door. "I think it's best that I leave."

"The dresses-" The words feel like glass crawling up Rebekah's throat. Like lies and death and everything wrong with the world. 

Olivia shakes her head and her lips curve into something that could be a smile, but just – isn’t. “I’d like to leave now, Rebekah."

“Oh, Olivia,” she says softly.

“I’m going.” Olivia interjects, stepping around Rebekah and reaching for the door handle. 

She's outside before she knows it and truly, Olivia doesn't know Mystic Falls well enough to avoid getting lost. But that doesn't matter, not really. She tries to ignore the pain, tries to be optimistic. It's probably better this way. Tatia destroyed Niklaus and Elijah- and Olivia is nothing more than another one of her. Destruction to their familial bonds. 

It's best that Rebekah has someone. 

It's best that Rebekah feels nothing for Olivia. 

At least then she won't get hurt. 

Stopping to examine a torn advertisement with a couple laughing and staring deeply into each other's eyes, she leaned to pick it up. Methodically she catalogs the way they lean into each other. She could almost hear their imaginary laughter trill over to her.

She doesn't see the witch come behind her. 

Doesn't even feel her presence. 

Not until the magic descends on her. 

* * *

She's uncomfortable when she wakes up. 

Not necessarily in pain, but the powerful magic surrounding her do their part in aiding her exhaustion. 

She looks up and sees the green eyed girl is watching her. 

"Bonnie," Olivia murmurs quietly, adjusting her weight. The cold concrete floor digging into her. She blinks her way around the cell, the iron bars, the darkness. 

"You know my name."

"Rebekah told me it," Olivia murmurs absentmindedly. "She said you were rather powerful."

The girl lifts her chin. A stubbornness set in her sharp jaw. It reminds Olivia of Athena and for a moment she is impressed. 

"You work for the originals."

"I don't work for anyone," Olivia said kindly. She's not upset, she almost prefers being in the cell to seeing her "soul mates" prance around with their lovers. Leaning her head back against the wall she lets out a sigh. 

"They kill- you help the originals-"

"Spare me the long boring speech of all the agony they caused when all of your friends have blood on their hands." Her words were laced with thorns as they made their way to the witch. "Either you care about the lives lost or you don't."

"You obviously don't," Bonnie snapped. "Witches are supposed to be good. We are supposed to—"

"No you mean I'm supposed to follow whatever you humans think is good. That I am not supposed to have opinions that challenge that of a human's, no, I am only to follow the righteous order of what you think is right."

"That's not what I said."

Bonnie clenched her fist, her lips quivering as she stepped forward. She was upset, that much obvious. She couldn't fathom an existence where her perceived good and bad weren't actually good and bad.

"Oh but that's what you meant."

The glare Bonnie turns on Olivia burns, but she's dealt with worse.

"So you think its okay that vampires can kill whoever they want, whenever they want."

"I think humans do the exact same thing every single day. I think it's my business to protect those closest to me and no further." Olivia meets the young girls eyes. "I don't think it's your job to try and save anyone either, Bonnie."

Hesitancy makes the young witch step back. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Oh," Olivia says. "So your friends aren't wearing beautiful gowns, dancing the night away while you stand watch over me?"

Bonnie's eyes darken. 

Then she laughed. It was a cacophony of hollow metallic sounds that reverberated through her entire body.

Magic lashes out against Olivia's skin, it makes her gasp and choke and then there is anger. Righteous anger. How dare this mortal try and attack her? She, who knew the secrets of gods and magic. She who was, Olivia, daughter of Persephone and Hades. Did this...creature think she had any power over her. 

Then like water down the drain, the rage left her. 

Of course this young witch lashed out. It was exactly what Olivia had done when she first arrived in Mystic Falls. She was just trying to protect herself. 

The goddess wrapped her hand around the magic. Effectively stopping it in it's tracks. 

" **Enough**."

Fear, profound and it's hot red needles pressing into her skin. Bonnie had faced down Klaus with no fear, but this girl, this witch....terrified her. 

For a moment nothing existed except the glory of light and power before her. Something hurt, and Bonnie realized her lungs screamed for air. 

"Who," her voice shakes but her eyes are hard and determined. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Olivia."

The girl—no not girl, she wasn't human. Whatever she was, she was luminous with power. Beautiful and a wild thing. 

"You aren't a witch."

Olivia nods in agreement. She reaches out to touch and Bonnie unconsciously reaches out too.

There hands connect and then Bonnie closes her eyes and lets her mind see what's truly before her. It doesn't take long for the little witch to sense Olivia's divinity. Her mouth runs dry and she stumbles to the floor in shock. 

"I don't understand," the young witch murmurs, tears burning in her eyes. 

"Bonnie," Olivia says kindly. "Let me out and I'll explain."

The Bennett tenses. She's heard the stories of cruel Gods and Goddesses, striking down mortals for small insults. But Olivia isn't them and her power has never been endless. 

"Bonnie, I will not hurt you."

Choking out a strangled sound, the witch beings unlocking the doors of the cage that holds her. 

When the door is open they watch each other carefully. Gaging the danger. Every muscle in Bonnie's body drawn tight, preparing for a confrontation that won't come. 

"I have some questions and I think it's best if you answer them."


	7. Chapter 7

Rebekah liked Matt Donovan. She really did. She liked spending time with him, she liked the way he looked at her, she liked that he listened to her when she talked, sure he was human—a terribly breakable thing. But overall she liked him. 

Which is why she felt like the worst person in the world when she agreed to be his date. 

It's not like she would love him. 

It's not like she cared about him beyond his usefulness. 

He was just a boy. 

But he was so achingly easy. Men were always easy. Show them human, _feminine fragility_ and they are none the wiser. Olivia would never be easy. 

She grasped Matt's hand in hers. 

He doesn't hold her the way Olivia would have. _With their fingers intertwined and their palms touching._

Matt twirls her. 

Olivia would of borrowed her head at the hollow of Rebekah's throat and playfully nipped at her skin. It would have been less of a dance and more of an outright cuddle. 

Looking over his shoulder, she sees Niklaus. 

The hybrid and the Mikaelson daughter hold eye contact. 

Both dancing with people who weren't Olivia. 

The entire mansion should feel...magical. Niklaus drops the eye contact and looks over Caroline decisively, he can admit, as any man could—she is a beauty. Her hair is curled in blonde ringlets that just barely graze below her shoulders and the shimmering eyeshadow she wore glittered with every blink. 

"Are you enjoying your evening, love?"

Caroline's chin jumped upwards as her eyes darted to his and then quickly looked away. "It's been fine."

"Just fine?"

"Well seeing as I'm surrounded by you and your murderous siblings, fine is a compliment."

He smirks and watches her unconsciously lean towards him, her pupils dilating. He grinned. Caroline's grip was tight, contradictory to her attempt at aloofness. 

Rebekah didn't even wait for the song to end. 

"Go."

"Excuse me," Caroline said her eyes brimming with offense. Both her and Klaus stopped dancing, taking in the steely blues of Rebekah Mikaelson. 

"You heard me," Rebekah responded with a glare. "I need to talk to my brother."

"You can't just-"

"I can do whatever I please. Now go before I remove your head." Like a tyrant submerged in coldness and death. 

Caroline looked over at Klaus as if expecting him to jump to her defense, when the hybrid did no such thing, the young vampire scoffed and stormed off. Muttering obscene words under her breath. 

As soon as Caroline is gone his facial expression shifts into something severe.

"Niklaus. Olivia isn't here."

His eyes narrow, tightness in his jaw and the crease in his forehead.There is anger (there is always anger) but this is pointed and sharp and deadly. 

To anyone else, Niklaus would have just looked furious, but to Rebekah, he looked terrified. Rage and hurt and loss all mingled together into an amalgamation of human emotion. 

"I'm aware. Where is she?"

She fell silent. 

"Speak. Before I lose my patience," his voice low and displeased. The air shudders and the music playing jovially in the background becomes sinister. 

"I told her I had a date and she...she left."

"She left," Niklaus repeats his voice oddly soft, hollow. Gone. Olivia is gone. The words don't make sense in his head. This world cannot be without Olivia. "Where did she go, Rebekah."

Tears swelled in her eyes. "Nik-"

"You let her leave us. You let her walk away." Niklaus's eyes flash, then go flat and terrifying, chips of obsidian. All malice. 

"She was upset-"

Klaus breathes in deeply, and let's out a low outraged noise, nostrils flaring. His hand wraps tightly around Rebekah's wrist, dragging his sister out of the ballroom. 

Rebekah sees it in his eyes. 

He looks primeval, a larger than life version of the brother she had always known with the shadows darkening the hollowed space under his eyes and pooling beneath his sharp cheekbones.

He looks terrifying. 

He looks ready to tear the whole fucking world apart.

"Nik," she whispers, her voice thin and high, almost begging. 

"This is your fault," Niklaus hisses like a fanged and poisonous thing, _tossing a dagger into her heart would have hurt less_. 

The sudden thrill of Rebekah's temper hot in her hands. “You didn't even notice Olivia's absence,” she spins on him, pointing. “You are just as much to blame. Dancing with Caroline and flirting with her, while Olivia -”

“That is hardly the same!” Klaus interrupts sharply, the words rushing from him like a rising tide. “Caroline is useful as long as she remains close to the doppleganger. That is all."

“Hardly the same? It’s the same thing, Niklaus! It's all at the cost of Olivia!"

"So then why would you do this?" They’re shouting at each other, now, and Niklaus hears the break in his voice as sure as he sees the glassy threat of angry tears in his sister’s eyes. “Olivia was the one good thing any of us had. The one thing, Rebekah."

" ** _It is not my fault_** ," Rebekah barely manages to let out a scream. 

Just below the desperation, peeking through when Rebekah heaved an unsteady breath, was fear. The same fear and anger and care that had him hauling her around by her arm and screaming in her face.

Eventually, Rebekah's lips parted as she drew a heavy breath to speak. The air wheezed back out, formless, and when she tried a second time, tears pooled in her eyes, though she did not let them fall.

"Reb-"

"No, no, no don't ' _Rebekah_ ' me, brother! You decided you had to use a stupid dagger to control us and then _everyone_ got dragged into it! Our brothers are hating each other and fighting all the time, and no one remembers that they love each other! How am I supposed to know how to handle this, huh? How am I supposed to know what to do with my feelings for Olivia? How am I supposed to open my heart again when consistently you tell me how weak it makes me!" Rebekah screamed at him. " _How, Niklaus_?"

Rebekah sounded like a distraught child – like the hurt younger sibling she was – and worlds away from a near all-powerful vampire. 

"I have only ever tried to do what I believe is right."

"Oh, _fuck you, Niklaus!_ " She cried, refusing to buy into it. "You _always_ believe you're right, and it doesn't matter who pays for it!" She threw her arms wide. "You've ruined everything, because of your eternal conviction that you can. Never. Be. _Wrong."_

"And yet as it stands I am not the one who made Olivia feel as though her only option was to leave."

They lapse into silence.

Rebekah swallows hard on the sick feeling in her chest, she closes her eyes against her brother’s anger; it is well-founded, she knows, but he does not _understand_ , and she cannot force him to listen. 

"Niklaus," Elijah's voice booms from behind them. Finn and Kol just at his heels. 

White-hot, murderous waves of rage roll off of Klaus as his head swivels towards them in a reptilian way. "What are we to do if Olivia has gone somewhere none of us can follow?"

Elijah looks lost and guilty. Kol looks soul crushingly furious, his hands clenching and unclenching like he could just physically rip Rebekah apart. And Finn—Finn looks sick, as if someone just ran into his head and tore apart his brain. 

"She wouldn't-"

"She didn't just leave," Kol cut in. "I overheard the doppleganger. They have her."

Niklaus's eyes darkened. "Then we will have to get her back."

* * *

Blood does not often appeal to Finn, but blood is what he craves now. Outside pacing the garden he feels rage mix in with hunger and burn it's way through him. 

The flowers (the pressure of Olivia) does nothing to soften the madness that courses through him. 

And when Sage touches his arm, he physically has to stop himself from ripping out her heart. She smells overwhelmingly of artificial vanilla and Finn narrowly resists wrinkling his nose, her breasts pushed out of her dress as if they were medals she wished to flaunt. 

"I haven't been here long."

Her teeth sink into her lower lip, eyes cast downwards and glances up through her lashes. It's coquettish and irritating. 

Finn doesn't meet her eyes, but he does stall his movements. 

"I'm aware."

"Why do you keep pretending I don't see the way you look at her?" Sage asked with a grin. It was always trouble when Sage grinned; never quite reaching her eyes.

Finn sighed tiredly. "Why do you keep pretending I don't know what you did the day I was daggered?"

Sage laughs bitterly. "Trying to shift the blame?"

Finn looked at his hands. In his mind blood stained his skin, stuck under his nail beds. "What blame is there to shift." He finally meets her eyes. "What did you do while I was daggered, Sage? How did you pass the time?"

"You're questioning me?" Sage threw her arms out wide in rage. "What of your darling Olivia?"

"She is-"

"Probably underneath one of your brothers as we speak."

"Do not speak of Olivia as if she is a common whore when you spent your years without me making your way through any man willing."

Silence. 

He savored the truth it brought with it. 

The tone of his voice lowers to a sibilant warning of a great serpent poised to strike. "Sage, I ask that you listen to me very carefully."

Sage freezes in place. She is a butterfly pinned to a specimen box for his enjoyment. He wonders if she can feel a piercing pain.

She swallows, sets her jaws. "Yes."

"Where you ever going to tell me?"

She coughs, and twists around nervously. "Finn I've been waiting for so long—"

"I am asking if you were ever going to tell me that you were unfaithful."

Her voice goes quiet. Her answering, flickering smile is pained. "No." And that is finally honest. "But you wouldn't have waited if you were in my position."

"Yes I would have." Finn drew a fist with his hands. "All I had ever done since the moment I met you was adore you. Everything you have asked for, I have done. I have given you everything you wanted, Sage, intervened for you when fate called for your death. I have broken my own rules. I have turned my world upside down, and I did it all for you."

His mouth twists and he steps forward. He doesn't touch her and part of her just wants to shift and lean forward, only a bit into him. Just a boy and just a girl, she remembers. She remembers smiling.

“You are not the only one who lives with their choices,” Finn says. His voice remains even. He is not placating her, or excusing her. "I thought I could go back in time. Put back together everything that I felt was taken from me."

The realization that he hurt Olivia comes quickly. He remembers her eyes. The way she had looked upon him and Sage. Her stare was dead and alive simultaneously. Her hope had long been buried, and the flowers growing upon the grave had thorns. 

"So that's it then."

And he barely hears Sage. 

"Yes."

Sage digs her nails ruthlessly into her own skin. "And Olivia, what is she to you?"

Finn breathes though he doesn't need to. "I don't know." He shakes his head. "I know percisely how much space Olivia occupies when she is in a room, and how empty that room is when she leaves it."

* * *

Elijah and Kol do not often work together.

Kol does love his brother, he loves his brother. He loves Elijah just as much as he loved Niklaus (still loves, if he feels like being honest), and Elijah, as far as siblings goes, is pretty easy to get along with. He's terribly judgmental, but easily tempered. And at the very least, he doesn't go on and on about how Kol's being a filthy, blasphemous sinner (unlike fucking Finn).

When they do work together though, they don't often need words to communicate what needs to be done. 

Damon and Stefan with broken necks, lay toppled onto each other in the trunk of Elijah's car. 

If Olivia truly was being held somewhere, it would be the Salvatore Borading house. 

When they get there Kol wastes no time speeding inside with Elijah right at his heels. God he can smell Olivia, her scent bright and heavy in the air of the basement. Slamming his way through, he growls out in anger when he sees nothing. 

Nothing but a cluster of flowers left on the floor. 

Where is his Olivia? 

Kol is prepared to rain hell upon this town if she is not returned to him. 

One by one they will all suffer. 

"She's not here."

Elijah just - stares at Kol, blank and silent. Unmoving. Unreactive.

The coiled power that quivers under Elijah's skin is akin to a hurricane trapped in a butterfly net, destructive and rapturous and demanding to be admired, worshipped.

It is Elijah who drags Damon into the basement, throwing his body into the cement floors. 

Kol wastes no time doing the same to Stefan.

"They will wake soon," Elijah says, a promise and threat in one. Removing his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. 

* * *

Rage is familiar to Klaus, comforting even. 

He's angry and bitter, and above all...he misses Olivia; that thought spirals forth - panic. Embarrassment; a hot, burning, _screaming_ sort of feeling in his shoulders and chest and face. God, when did he become so needy?

But also, how could he not. Olivia is a hurricane, a natural disaster, bringing destruction to Klaus's control, his sense of self. 

Even now he feels caught, breathless, his brow furrowed as he struggles to focus. 

Caroline takes a step closer to him. 

She offers a smile that is entirely disingenuous, and that Klaus sees through in less than a second.

Her eyes are too sharp, too focused on surveying him and sizing him up. What does she see when she looks at him, he wonders? Opportunity surely- but there is something more, something-

-regardless it's better to work in his contingencies now, he wouldn't be The Niklaus Mikaelson after all if he didn't plan ahead.

"Love," he calls smoothly, watches how the word digs into the blonde. "I have something I want to show you."

Her hesitation is short and she quickly threads her arm through his. 

He levels her with a charming smile that is somewhat...empty, something absent within it. Strangely, the blonde didn't notice. 

Guiding her towards his studio. Klaus's eyes automatically dart to his painting of Olivia, hidden under a plain white sheet. 

"Tell me love," Klaus begins without any particular weight, any indication that this conversation has a point. "Do you enjoy art?"

"Yes," Caroline answers easily. "It's one of the things that make the world more beautiful. How could I not enjoy it?"

"I feel the exact same way..."

He pauses, relaxed, hands thrust into his pockets, hips slung to the side. Amusement glittering in the sea deep blue of his eyes.

"So you understand why I have to do this."

"Do—"

In an instant he was there his hand digging brutally into Caroline's chest, tearing past her ribcage with ease and wrapping around her heart, making sure to dig his nails in. "You see, I cannot survive in this world without art and I cannot create art without my muse."

She gurgles pathetically, clawing desperately at his hand. 

He laughs, burning as hot and as terrible as the sun. 

"What do you want with me?” Caroline manages through gasps and whimpers, voice scarcely more than a whimper. 

Klaus smiled at her, almost fondly. “Love,” he said slowly, “You're my insurance."

* * *

Stefan is the first to break. 

Heaving and covered in his own blood, he sobs brokenly. "Bonnie," he says. "Bonnie has her."

The Mikaelson brothers share a vicious grin. 

Soon all of the Mikaelson siblings are gathered together. All anticipating Olivia's return. 

There are no heartbeats inside the walls of the Bennett home. 

* * *

_There was an unnerving ease of which the blade slid across the girl's neck, her blood spilling messily into the bowl that hovered in front of her body. The grip Esther held in her hair loosened as the bowl filled, seeing her reflection in the thick red pool._

_She was so close._

_Dropping the girl's body she placed the blade besides her grimoire, careful to not let unworthy blood stain the handcrafted pages._

_Dipping her pointer finger into the bowl she swirled the liquid chanting a low dark song._

_"Sisters hear me now."_

_The soft susurration of the leaves soon became a fierce rustling, loud enough to drown out the chorus of the birds. A brilliant shock of white in the graphite sky, it was not a bolt, streaking to the earth in the way nature had created it, but more of an almighty camera flash that blanketed everything at once._

_Esther had been in the darkness for so long that when the candles lit it was almost too much to see. The flames flickered in the vulnerable way fire does, the nascent flame being pushed by the spirit's voice._

" _Her kind has not walked the earth for sometime_..."

" _An ancient power_."

" _They cannot be killed by our hand_."

" _So much power_."

" _Divine_."

_Esther breathes in the words, lets them settle in her chest._

_It is not easy to hurt a goddess._

_Esther, supposes._

_She moves forward, languidly playing with the sharp edge of her blade._

_An immortal for an immortal._

_A God for a God._

_To destroy one, first she must find one willing to hear her prayers. To restore the rightful balance of the world._


End file.
